Sierra Leone recalls ambassador over cocaine incident

Sierra Leone has recalled its ambassador from neighbouring Guinea after seven suitcases containing suspected cocaine were found in an embassy vehicle, reports BBC News. Last Monday, Guinean authorities impounded a vehicle belonging to Sierra Leone's embassy and detained its occupants on suspicion of possessing ‘substances suspected to be cocaine’, Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister Alhaji Musa Timothy Kabba said. ‘In light of this serious development, the government has urgently recalled Sierra Leone's ambassador to Guinea, Ambassador Mr Alimamy Bangura, to Freetown to provide a full account of the incident,’ he added. The recalled envoy was not in the car and is not under arrest, the Minister said. About $2 000 in cash was found along with the seven suitcases, according to the Minister. He said the two West African countries were co-operating in a ‘thorough’ investigation of the incident, pledging that all responsible parties would be held accountable. 'Anyone found guilty of breaking Sierra Leonean and international drug trafficking laws will face full force of the law.’ West Africa is a major transit point for the trafficking of cocaine from Latin America, where it is produced, to Europe, one of the drug's main markets. Last April, Sierra Leone's President Julius Maada Bio declared drug abuse in the country a national emergency.

Full BBC News report