Sierra Leone
nation state
| Sierra Leone link | |
|---|---|
| Location | West Africa, Africa |
| Type | nation state |
| A global cocaine trafficking hub in West Africa | |
Sierra Leone is an African nation state which is of global importance as a cocaine trafficking hub.
Blood Diamonds
In 2025 Ishmahil Blagrove reported:
In 2001, I produced the documentary ‘Blood Diamonds’ for the now defunct 'BBC Correspondent' Series.[1] After returning from the war in Sierra Leone, I was asked to stay at home and to take a week off to recuperate. When I returned to my desk a week later, the footage we had filmed had already been laid out on the timeline without my knowledge and with a narrative to my film that I did not agree with.
The agreement I had made with the BBC was that I would secure them access to the diamond mines held in rebel territory and explain to viewers the origins of the war and how the trade in diamonds was fuelling it. The footage was laid out in a way that sensationalised ‘Blood Diamonds’ without giving any context or history to the war - making viewers believe that the war in Sierra Leone was merely about greed and diamonds. This could not have been any further away from the truth. The reality was the majority of Sierra Leoneans had never set eyes on a diamond and the roots behind the war rested on government corruption, mismanagement, foreign exploitation, and a lack of basic provisions, such as education, healthcare and employment in the predominantly eastern region of the country.
That is why Foday Sankoh originally formed the RUF and launched a brutal civil war that claimed the lives of over 60,000 people. During the war, as in any country, the wealth produced by the nation will be appropriated to further the war efforts. Sierra Leone was no different. However, 'Blood Timber', 'Blood Cocoa', and 'Blood Coffee' doesn’t have the same ring to it as the catchphrase 'Blood Diamonds' - of which Western governments and the BBC had become fixated.
The BBC ended up screening my documentary without any producer credited. They deceitfully lied about my contract because as the Producer of the programme it meant that I was responsible for the documentary’s direction. Hollywood would subsequently go on to make the movie “Blood Diamonds” starring Leonardo Decaprio.[2]
Cocaine Trafficking
The Telegraph reports that cocaine trafficking was legal in Sierra Leone until 2008. As a result of this, and "airspace and coastline virtually unguarded" is has become a major hub of cocaine trafficking.[3]
Serious Organised Crime Agency involvement
The Telegraph reports that "Britain remains Sierra Leone's biggest bilateral aid donor, giving £40 million [in 2008]" and that the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency has been in effective charge of seized cocaine.[3]
DEA Competition
Andrei Fursov stated in 2014 that "Cocaine is transferred to Sierra Leone, where it is exchanged for diamonds. With the diamonds they purchase arms. This triangle - Hezbollah, Syria, Iran - gets in the way of the Americans. They take the view, correctly, that eliminating Syria as an Arab partner of Iran, whether relations with Iran are good or bad, Iran will be weaker, and it will be easier to get an agreement with them. The removal of the Assad regime therefore became objective No.1 for the Americans. Likewise for Saudi Arabia and Israel."[4]