Sierra Leone Police boss William Fayia Sellu during a press briefing.
Sierra Leone government has confirmed the arrest of an official vehicle belonging to its embassy in neighbouring Guinea on suspicion of trafficking cocaine.
It followed days of rumours that a Sierra Leonean diplomat in Guinea had been detained in connection with a drug trafficking incident.
Timothy Musa Kabba, Sierra Leone’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, said on Thursday that his government has mounted an investigation after it was officially informed by its Guinean counterparts on Monday, January 13 about the incident.
Sierra Leone’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Timothy Musa Kabba speaking during a press briefing.
The details provided by the Minister at a press briefing on Thursday indicated that the vehicle was intercepted on December 31 last year, with two occupants – a driver and a passenger. He revealed that a total of seven suitcases containing a substance suspected to be cocaine were discovered in the vehicle, along with other items including phones and $2,000 in cash.
According to Sierra Leonean officials, the vehicle was a utility one, not assigned to any specific official.
Nonetheless, Kabba said the ambassador in Conakry has been recalled to Freetown to explain the incident.
“In light of this serious development, the government has urgently recalled Sierra Leone’s ambassador to Guinea, Mr Alimamy Bangura, to Freetown to provide a full account of the incident,” Minister Kabba said in a statement.
He also said that the head of the chancery, whose office reportedly issued a clearance document for the vehicle to travel to Sierra Leone and back, has been called for an explanation.
According to the Sierra Leone government, as of Friday, there was no evidence suggesting that its ambassador was involved.
“The government of Sierra Leone is collaborating with the Guinean authorities to verify the facts on the matter and anyone found guilty of breaking Sierra Leonean and international drug trafficking laws will face the full force of the law,” said Minister Kabba.
Embassy property including vehicles and premises are often privileged and immune from arrest, detention, or search. But this privilege is occasionally abused by diplomats, sometimes forcing local authorities to enforce their rules, especially if the users at the time had no diplomatic immunity.
The incident could be a source of embarrassment for the government, coming just over a month after a diplomatic incident sparked by the deportation of Sierra Leonean nationals from Guinea.
That came as a result of an operation by Guinean security forces meant to rid the capital, Conakry of drugs and crimes.
Many of the slum communities raided in Conakry were largely inhabited by Sierra Leonean immigrants. Officials said over 200 Sierra Leoneans were detained in that incident and later deported.
That decision by Guinea led to a standoff at the border between the two countries after Sierra Leone immigration officials refused to accept the deportees, citing a breach of diplomatic protocol.
The incident also led to what has been described as a retaliatory action targeting suspected Guineans in Sierra Leone, which Freetown, however, denied.
Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia are all going through a war against drug and substance abuse. And there have been finger pointing as who is the source of the problem. The Liberian government had earlier blamed its two neighbours for sitting on its hands in the crisis.
