How Europe’s most wanted cocaine trafficker turned Sierra Leone into the world’s first true narco state
As abductions go, few have been more brazen. Alan Jalloh was with two friends outside Goodies supermarket, frantic as usual with late afternoon shoppers. Rush hour in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, was under way with familiar gusto.
In a shocking abduction, Alan Jalloh, a 40-year-old businessman, was seized along with two friends outside a supermarket in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. Witnesses reported burly white men in balaclavas dragging the trio into a black Toyota Rav4. Both Jalloh and his friends have since disappeared. Further abductions followed, with at least 14 people reported killed on orders of Jos Leijdekkers, the son-in-law of the country's president, Julius Maada Bio.
Leijdekkers, a 35-year-old Dutch cocaine baron, is credited with importing vast quantities of drugs, causing Europe's wholesale cocaine prices to plummet. Despite intelligence warnings, the EU and the UN have condemned the rise of Leijdekkers' cocaine empire and warned of its expansion across West Africa.
Written by urgent.news from MyJoyOnline Ghana's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
