AFRICA/SIERRA LEONE – Illegal drugs are a national problem

Freetown – A major international drug trafficker has found refuge in the country, diplomats from Sierra Leone suspected of collaborating with traffickers, and the spread of drugs among young people: has Sierra Leone possibly become a new hub for international drug trafficking? This suspicion is reinforced by the warning of Msgr. Charles Edward Tamba, Archbishop of Freetown, who, in his homily on Sunday, October 12, stated: “I appeal to all of us to talk to the young people around us whom we know are using hard drugs, so that they reflect on the suffering they cause to themselves, their families and loved ones, their communities, and our country.” A few days earlier, the Freetown municipality had announced that between January and October of this year, a total of 220 bodies of unidentified young people had been recovered who had died from an overdose of Kush, a synthetic marijuana drug with dangerous health effects and such a detrimental impact on the country’s society that President Julius Maada Bio declared drug use a “national emergency” . In addition to the local trade and consumption of Kush, there are signs that the country has become an international center for cocaine trafficking. Throughout 2025, worrying signs of the influence of drug trafficking in the country increased. On January 17, Sierra Leone’s ambassador to Conakry was recalled from the Republic of Guinea after seven suitcases containing a total of 13 kg of cocaine were found in his vehicle. Another scandal affecting Sierra Leone’s diplomatic institutions is the arrest on October 11 in the United Arab Emirates of a major Turkish drug trafficker who was allegedly in possession of a diplomatic passport from Sierra Leone. This is Abdullah Alp Üstün, alias “Don Vito,” a key figure in the global drug trade, wanted by Interpol, who, according to the Turkish press, obtained the diplomatic passport thanks to the help of Johannes Leijdekkers, a Dutchman and one of Europe’s most wanted drug traffickers, who has long lived openly in the African country. His luxurious life on the run is evidenced by the fact that Leijdekkers, who was sentenced to 24 years in prison for murder and involvement in the trafficking of over seven tons of cocaine, was seen at a mass on New Year’s Eve 2025 with some government members, sitting next to a woman identified as the daughter of President Julius Maada Bio, who was sitting two rows in front of him. The Minister of Information subsequently explained that during the holidays, it was customary for the president to be photographed with numerous celebrities without knowing their identities. Leijdekkers is said to have arrived in Sierra Leone in 2022 and was seen at various social events in the capital, Freetown. The drug trafficker is currently untraceable.

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