Following reports over the weekend of the arrest of five Sierra Leoneans at the Port of Dakar for Kush, it alerted concerns from the Sierra Leone Embassy which led to the engagement of the port executive members on Monday 20th, January, 2025.
During the deliberations at the embassy, the ambassador, His Excellency Mr. Ibrahim Turay made it emphatically known that the embassy will not support anybody partaking in drug and substance abuse. He cautioned them to be vigilant and report those involved in the sales or trafficking of Kush and to abide by the laws of Senegal.
“We have earned a remarkable reputation over the years as a nation and we are regarded and respected among our peers and globally for which we should not allow anybody to dent it. We are greatly respected by our host country and that respect accorded us we should not pollute it” ambassador Turay stated.
Explaining what happened that led to the arrest of the five, the newly elected Chairman of the Sierra Leone Port Workers, Ebenezer George said the five had gone to a hideout prohibited by the security forces. He explained that not knowing a CCTV camera had been installed, they were seen what they were doing when the police swoop on them. They were charged before a magistrate and one of them was sentenced to six months in prison while the four were released.
That account was collaborated to the embassy officials that engaged the Commandantes at the customs division and Gendermerie respectively who said the five were arrested on Thursday 9th January, 2025 at the Autonome de Dakar Mole 1 with Kush. The Gendermerie Commander went on to express disheartening malfeasance behaviors by some of the Sierra Leoneans who had formed themselves into gangs within the precincts of the port causing public order concerns.
Present at the meeting was the President of the Sierra Leone National Union, Kelfala B. Samura who informed the ambassador of a task force on Kush that he would create to engage in public education in various communities and also to prosecute those involved. The new port executive promised to collaborate in prosecuting those involved in drug and substance abuse.
Ishmael Bayoh
Information Attachè, Sierra Leone Embassy Dakar, Sénégal
