Guinea Government arrests Sierra Leone diplomats For drug trafficking

By Elizabeth Johnson

The government of be Guinea has arrested a huge substances suspected to be Cocaine in the the vehicle belonging to the embassy of Sierra Leone in Guinea . Reports in Guinea said.

The driver of the vehicle and another Sierra Leonean have been arrested by the Guinean authorities and are being detained in an unknown location.

The government of Sierra Leone has in a press release confirmed the incident and has recalled its Ambassador to Guinea Alimamy Bangura who is also said to have been placed under house arrest by the Guinean government.

His deputy , Fatmata Sawaneh is also being held in custody by the authorities in Guinea . A source in Guinea told the Public Review.

Bangura  who is the Dean of the African Ambassadors in Guinea at the Chancery building in Conakry has not said anything yet about the incident and his whereabouts is still unknown.

The quantity of the Cocaine is said to be around 380 Kilogram and thousands of dollars were also apprehended in the vehicle belonging to the Sierra Leone Embassy in Guinea .

The vehicle is said to have been driven by the official driver to the Ambassador .

He had drove the vehicle from Kambia in the northern part of Sierra Leone towards the Sierra Leone Embassy in Guinea .

Report said that the vehicle had a diplomatic number plate while the driver was having his diplomatic identity on him when the Guinean authorities intercepted him and insisted that the vehicle would be forcefully searched .

Reports suggest that they were acting on a reliable tip off so they pushed for a thorough search of the vehicle forcefully .

The substances  which are said to have been bundled in different seals are said to have been tested by the Guinean authorities and have proven to be Cocaine. Reports also added .

It continued that a Laissez Passé ( an official travel documents) fixed , signed and stamped by the Sierra Leone embassy in Guinea was found in the possession of the driver . This means , the vehicle was authorized to travel from Guinea to; into Sierra Leone and back to Guinea. 

According to the reports , the Laissez Passe showed that the vehicle had entered Sierra Leone and then returned into Guinea and that it was on return trip that it was intercepted.

This latest development could be termed the worst diplomatic debacle in the recent history of bilateral relations between the two sister countries.

Neighboring Sierra Leone and Guinea have partnered as members of the Mano River Union Basin since .

In recent months , the two countries were at loggerheads over alleged deportation and harassment of either citizens .