Hunting For A Rare Congolese Weed Strain With “The Kings of Cannabis” | VICE on HBO

Over the past 20 years, Franco Loja and Arjan Roskam, known as the “Kings of Cannabis,” have made millions of dollars scouring the world for unique strains of weed to breed and then sell.

Now, they’ve turned their sights on Equatorial Africa, specifically the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as their next gold mine — and a way to revolutionize the cannabis industry.

“Equatorial Africa is one the best preserved because of the wars, the lack of infrastructure, political unrest. All these situations created isolation there,” Loja explained. “So that’s where we’re going.”

Loja and Roskam built their global powerhouse on inbred strains of cannabis called “landraces” that they’ve collected from all over the world — Argentina, Australia, and Brazil, just to name a few spots. Without these strains, the duo’s various breeding enterprises, Amsterdam coffeeshops, and even distribution centers wouldn’t exist.

VICE News met up with the “Kings of Cannabis” for a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to hunt for one of the rarest species of Cannabis yet, the original Congolese landrace.

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50 Comments

  1. Fateh Singh Bedi on March 8, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    man one of those fellas was like Indiana jones of ganja



  2. King zion music on March 8, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    Cheap bastard 50 bucks should have gave him 500 to 1,000 bucks each chief.



  3. 谭杰 on March 8, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    🍃v tjbetterintime



  4. Hawkinson B. on March 8, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    C’mon give ’em some bread, don’t be cheap!
    I ain’t buying ur weed if u be like that



  5. g g on March 8, 2021 at 9:40 pm

    I think Ethiopia has good weed



  6. 1Bigredox on March 8, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    no need for seeds, kids. google tissue culture….



  7. Leo Garcia on March 8, 2021 at 9:43 pm

    that’s what they get for not paying the villagers



  8. kmj2000 on March 8, 2021 at 9:44 pm

    I like Franco but Arjan is a total colonizer. I hope this documentary is seen by more people so they can preserve their own seeds instead of having this company profit.



  9. J v on March 8, 2021 at 9:46 pm

    KARMA FOR RIPPING PEOPLE OFF AND GETTING RICH OFF THEM…………………….



  10. Youngboi Venus on March 8, 2021 at 9:46 pm

    I think he didn’t die from malaria, I think the government killed him, maybe poisoned!! I think there is marijuana strains never seen before, possible medicines and more!



  11. Jaime Arredondo on March 8, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    I like his honesty



  12. Claudia Martinez on March 8, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    These guys are worth millions and they couldn’t give the village more than. $100 wtf big business killing the lil guy



  13. Jojo Frog on March 8, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    IM BILL DIPPERLY IM BILL DIPPERLY!



  14. caivs on March 8, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    this is like the real life congo 1995



  15. Luke Gilmer on March 8, 2021 at 9:50 pm

    These Guys are Legends, from the ground breaking work that led to hugely popular strains of today, (White Widow, Etc.) to their ground breaking YouTube documentaries on Cannabis from all over the world! Hamilton has to add some political overtones in the end cause a few misguided locals got upset and cause its Vice lol! The Strain Hunters Represented the best parts of the Cannabis Industry and were accomplished activists in their own right, starting an organization that helped poor cannabis farmers in places they visited, even building houses for some!



  16. Oscar Merlin on March 8, 2021 at 9:50 pm

    50 bucks? He so proud too, "buy some goats and stuff for the whole village".



  17. felix fung on March 8, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    what a bunch of a-holes.



  18. Abdulhaseeb Khan on March 8, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    I have smoked congo weed in Canada a few months ago



  19. Angel Prime on March 8, 2021 at 9:53 pm

    Looks like weed can kill all you wanna do is fucking get high and then want more again again



  20. Mohammed Siam on March 8, 2021 at 9:53 pm

    12:05 you just used them god bless you



  21. Linds Ryan on March 8, 2021 at 9:55 pm

    I don’t like he says “real field” some of them
    We’re just baby fields. Rude.



  22. init on March 8, 2021 at 9:55 pm

    Evil doesn’t prevail



  23. SKC TV on March 8, 2021 at 9:55 pm

    So Marijuana migration started from modern day Nepal?



  24. Pablo Harris on March 8, 2021 at 9:59 pm

    8% thc is high!? LMAOOOOO FOH



  25. The Quinnternet on March 8, 2021 at 9:59 pm

    Yo buddy buddy oo



  26. the Ghöst on March 8, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    They built their empire by ripping off locals… They took advantage of locals who didn’t know any better and that’s fucking sad… And I bet old boy thought about it too as he took his last breathes.



  27. qTCruxher on March 8, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    *Franco Loja dies*

    A small price to pay for salvation.



  28. Andrew G on March 8, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    how do they know thats congo landrace tho? maybe someone dropped other seeds there years ago?



  29. HonorBoyLJ on March 8, 2021 at 10:06 pm

    The story of Africa🤦🏾‍♂️ constantly selling itself.



  30. Timothy Kappel on March 8, 2021 at 10:06 pm

    It’s so funny seeing hamilton with these guys the difference is hilarious. He is so out his element.



  31. Sam Koldsen on March 8, 2021 at 10:07 pm

    I hate the guy wit the shades



  32. Andrew G on March 8, 2021 at 10:10 pm

    wow the ending is fucking crazy. rip



  33. samrat magar on March 8, 2021 at 10:12 pm

    Visit Nepal too for cannabis it’ll be worth enough



  34. Tumelo Timothy on March 8, 2021 at 10:13 pm

    How every saw how he was being carried by a small boy in Africa across the quick sand
    Nobody:
    A Kid in Africa : I have enough food at home I have strength



  35. qTCruxher on March 8, 2021 at 10:13 pm

    All of this for a drop of weed..



  36. Ashar Naveed on March 8, 2021 at 10:14 pm

    how many peoples interested in Cannabis



  37. carley hampers on March 8, 2021 at 10:16 pm

    Whoaaaa was not expecting the very end



  38. Jacob Harrison on March 8, 2021 at 10:17 pm

    lil uzi is from the Congo?



  39. Matthew Orr on March 8, 2021 at 10:19 pm

    Rest In Paradise



  40. Elora Nyamuziga on March 8, 2021 at 10:19 pm

    Ha😂looks like the ancestors didn’t want the skinny greedy guy to make his money after all… 💀lmao



  41. King zion music on March 8, 2021 at 10:20 pm

    His life was taken because he is greedy making medicine for the west but not Africans why not set up a lab in Congo?



  42. Desmond Dice123 on March 8, 2021 at 10:21 pm

    Buy your weed from Dicehacker1 on telegram is 💯✅ legit .I got my weed yesterday at my door step, chat him up if you wanna buy weed .be is a trustworthy person and is 💯 ✅ legal .



  43. Lencho Torres on March 8, 2021 at 10:24 pm

    Wonder what the finishing product is



  44. samrat magar on March 8, 2021 at 10:26 pm

    When I hold one of these seeds in my hand I don’t see seed in my hand I will see thousands of people getting high and business happening, fortune made and medicine created 👏👏



  45. vegeta on March 8, 2021 at 10:29 pm

    Didn’t know lil uzi vert was in this 3:23…



  46. YUNG LOUI on March 8, 2021 at 10:29 pm

    They put a curse on him I feel like I heard black magic is a big thing down there ( just an opinion though)



  47. Ayush Joshi on March 8, 2021 at 10:31 pm

    Congratulations Arjan Roscam🎈



  48. VICE News on March 8, 2021 at 10:34 pm

    VICE News met up with the “Kings of Cannabis” for a trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to hunt for one of the rarest species of Cannabis yet, the original Congolese landrace.

    WATCH NEXT: This Is What An Ivory Bust In New York City Looks Like – http://bit.ly/2uKZI8K



  49. Alpha zen on March 8, 2021 at 10:34 pm

    Dam the vice dude out there in just a white t shirt with all thoes mosquitoes



  50. Kevin on March 8, 2021 at 10:35 pm

    Did these guys really bring THCV to america because thcv is available now to buy? Super cool