In a bizarre New Year’s Eve incident, a drunken Zambian police officer reportedly freed 13 suspects from custody to let them “cross over into the new year.”

The officer, identified as Detective Inspector Titus Phiri, allegedly seized the keys from a constable at the Leonard Cheelo police station in Lusaka, before unlocking both male and female cells.

According to police spokesperson Rae Hamoonga, Phiri, in an intoxicated state, instructed the suspects—who were accused of serious crimes like assault, robbery, and burglary, to leave.

Out of 15 detainees, 13 escaped and a manhunt has been launched to recapture them. Phiri himself fled the scene and has not been seen.

Reacting to the incident, a former presidential spokesperson Dickson Jere found the situation amusing, recalling a similar case from 1997.