A container seized earlier this year for allegedly carrying a large quantity of the illegal drug kush has reportedly disappeared after being handed over to the Sierra Leone Police for safekeeping sparking outrage and demands for accountability.
The 40-foot container, numbered TCNU 17239445G1, was first intercepted by the Transnational Organized Crime Unit (TOCU) on May 22, 2025, at the Queen Elizabeth II Quay in Freetown.
According to initial police reports, the container had been declared as holding “Amazonian goods.” However, inspection by law enforcement officers revealed 25 bags containing kush and raw materials believed to be used in its production.
Following the seizure, Customs officials confirmed that the container was transferred to the Sierra Leone Police for further investigation. Months later, however, its location remains unknown — with no official report released about its contents, custody status, or outcome of the investigation.
The silence from both police and Customs authorities has triggered public anger and speculation, with civil society organizations calling for an independent investigation into what they describe as a “major breach of evidence handling” in a country battling a deepening drug crisis.
“This case underscores the weakness of institutional oversight and the scale of corruption undermining the fight against drugs,” one activist told Newswatch-SL.
In the initial statement following the May seizure, Detective Superintendent Abass Y. Bangura, then Deputy Head of TOCU, confirmed that police acted on a credible intelligence tip and that investigations were underway to identify the owners of the consignment. No arrests were announced at the time.
The missing container scandal comes amid heightened scrutiny of law enforcement agencies, following a series of leadership changes at TOCU and growing public unease over the handling of drug-related cases — including the controversial disappearance of an elderly suspect in Makeni known as the “Kush Granny.”
With Sierra Leone’s kush epidemic now described as a national emergency, the unexplained disappearance of seized narcotics at one of the country’s most secure facilities raises serious concerns about accountability and the integrity of ongoing anti-drug operations.
As of press time, neither the Sierra Leone Police nor Customs officials have issued any public statement clarifying the fate of the container.
