Major Drugs Seizure At Airport

July 2008 | Political Risk Alert

Nine foreign nationals, including four Colombians, two Mexicans and an American, have been arrested after Sierra Leone's largest ever seizure of cocaine. Around 700kg of cocaine were seized, worth an estimated US$54mn, along with five automatic rifles and ammunition. Wary of how seized drugs went missing from government stores in Guinea-Bissau, this haul has been deposited with the British-led International Military Advisory Training Team (IMATT). With its relatively unpoliced borders, West Africa has been targeted as a key smuggling route. Of great concern for Sierra Leone is the ease with which the plane was allowed to land at Lungi airport, suggesting at best chronic gaps in security and at worst, high-level collaboration.

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