Sierra Leone's opposition leader expressed concern on Monday about alleged links between the West African country and international drug trafficking and organized crime networks.
In an open letter to President Julius Maada Bio, Abdulai Kargbo, leader of the main opposition party, the APC, referred to a seizure of several million dollars worth of drugs made last week on a ship that left Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.
On Thursday, Spanish police said they had seized firearms and 30 tons of cocaine worth $700 million on board a Comorian-flagged ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The ship had left Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, and was heading towards the Mediterranean Sea. Among those arrested were 17 Filipinos, five Dutch nationals and one Surinamese.
Sierra Leonean authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding this cocaine seizure.
In his letter, seen by AFP, Mr. Kargbo stated that he was writing out of "deep concern and a profound sense of patriotic duty."
He highlighted "the alarming and repeated international reports establishing a link between Sierra Leone, Sierra Leoneans, our territorial waters, our ports, our borders and people associated with our country, on the one hand, and international drug trafficking and organized criminal networks, on the other."
"The fact that a heavily armed vessel, believed to be linked to international organized crime networks, was able to leave Sierra Leonean territory undetected raises serious concerns," he said.
Mr. Kargbo indicated that this case had reinforced suspicions, both internationally and nationally, that "criminal networks could operate with institutional protection or political influence."
The confirmed presence in Sierra Leone in recent months of Jos Leijdekkers, one of Europe's most wanted drug traffickers, has raised questions about his potential links with the government.
Images showing the Dutchman in the company of senior officials, including Bio, suggest that he has forged links with Freetown's elite.
Europol classifies this 34-year-old man among the main players in cocaine trafficking.
In 2024, a Rotterdam court sentenced him in absentia to 24 years in prison for organizing the transport of nearly seven tons of cocaine and ordering a murder.
The Swiss NGO Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime describes West Africa as a transit point for cocaine manufactured in Latin America and shipped to consumer countries in Europe.
