500 phones and 1,000 SIMs seized in Zomba prison sweep

Malawi’s Prison Service has revealed a staggering haul of contraband smuggled behind bars, confiscating more than 500 mobile phones, 1,000 SIM cards, 5 kilograms of Indian hemp and a host of other prohibited items since rolling out advanced scanning technology at Zomba Central Prison.

MPS Spokesperson Steven Meke confirmed the dramatic seizures on Wednesday, revealing they were the direct result of an initiative launched in 2025 in partnership with the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), aimed squarely at rooting out illicit items smuggled into the facility.

Meke said the new technology, combined with a range of other security interventions, had transformed Zomba Central Prison into a significantly safer environment, better suited to the genuine reformation and rehabilitation of offenders.

The pilot initiative, jointly rolled out by MACRA and MPS, was specifically designed to curb digital fraud and other criminal activity allegedly being orchestrated by inmates using smuggled mobile phones and SIM cards — devices that have long fuelled concerns over prisoners continuing criminal operations from behind bars.

Officials say the scale of the haul underscores just how widespread the smuggling problem had become prior to the scanners’ introduction, with more than 500 phones alone intercepted since the technology went live — numbers likely to raise fresh questions over how such volumes of contraband were previously making their way into one of the country’s most high-profile correctional facilities.

Authorities have signalled the success of the Zomba pilot could pave the way for similar scanning technology to be rolled out at other prisons across Malawi, as the government continues efforts to tighten security and stamp out criminal activity within the country’s correctional system.