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Sierra Leone’s chief immigration officer was fired hours after the emergence of a video of him accepting a gift from one of Europe’s most notorious drug barons, the government told AFP on Wednesday.
In a video posted Friday by investigative website Follow the Money, Alusine Kanneh can be seen laughing at a party while taking a gift from Jos Leijdekkers, a fugitive Dutch trafficker believed to be hiding out in the west African country.
Previous pictures apparently showing Leijdekkers, nicknamed “Chubby Jos”, in the company of officials as high as President Julius Maada Bio have sparked speculation that the cocaine lord has cosied up to Sierra Leone’s political class — including the president’s daughter.
Besides Kanneh, the director of Sierra Leone’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Andrew Jaiah Kaikai, was pictured observing the festivities featuring Leijdekkers in Friday’s video.
On the same day the video came to light President Bio fired Kanneh from his post, the country’s information minister Chernor Bah said, without specifying the reason for his dismissal.
“The president exercises his constitutional authority to hire and fire anyone and uses that based on factors that are his sole prerogative,” Bah told AFP on Wednesday.
– ‘Refuge’ for the drug lord –
Leijdekkers, who also goes by the alias “Omar Sheriff”, is considered by European Union law enforcement agency Europol to be a major player in the international cocaine trade.
Suspicions that he was in Sierra Leone arose after the country’s First Lady Fatima Bio posted pictures and a video on social media that showed a man strongly resembling the 33-year-old at a religious service, also attended by President Bio.
Exiled Sierra Leone opposition figure Mohamed Mansaray accuses Bio and his government of “offering refuge” to the drug lord, who is on Europol’s most wanted list.
According to Mansaray, “Chubby Jos” has coupled-up with the president’s daughter Agnes Bio, who is seen accompanying the drug lord in the images.
A Rotterdam court last June sentenced Leijdekkers in absentia to 24 years in prison for ordering a murder and organising the transport of seven tonnes of cocaine.
Europol has offered a 200,000-euro ($208,000) reward for information leading to his arrest.
In early February, Sierra Leone’s police said it had launched a “manhunt” to track down the fugitive.
It has not provided an update on the search for Leijdekkers since.
Last week, Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said he had discussed the Leijdekkers affair with his Sierra Leonean counterpart Alpha Sesay.
“There are strong indications that he is currently in Sierra Leone… Criminals should not be given free rein anywhere,” van Weel wrote on X.
West Africa serves as a midway point for cocaine traffickers shipping the drug from its Latin American producers towards consumers in Europe, according to the Swiss-based Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
AFP
