The President of Sierra Leone has removed the head of the immigration service a few days after a video surfaced showing him accepting a birthday present from a wanted Dutch drug trafficker. The footage, published by Follow the Money and the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, depicts Alusine Kanneh receiving a gift from fugitive Johannes Leijdekkers at a restaurant in the capital, Freetown. Leijdekkers, who was given a 24-year prison sentence in absentia by a Rotterdam court last June for drug trafficking, is one of Europe’s most wanted criminals.

Kanneh was dismissed from his role on the day the reports went public, though the reason for his termination was not disclosed. The incident has led to speculation that Kanneh and other political figures have been assisting Leijdekkers in gaining influence in the country. As early as February, it was reported that Leijdekkers had been in Sierra Leone since at least 2022, attending nightclubs, parties, and even a New Year’s Day church service in President Julius Maada Bio’s hometown.

In January, the immigration ministry introduced the ‘Go-for-Gold’ scheme, which offers a fast track to citizenship for investors willing to contribute $140,000, bypassing the normal eight-year residency requirement. It is unknown whether Leijdekkers holds a Sierra Leonean passport in addition to his Turkish one. Sierra Leone’s police had identified the man in the church service footage as Omar Sheriff, but their chief did not confirm if he was the same as Leijdekkers.

Leijdekkers, known by various aliases including Bolle Jos, received a 10-year sentence in absence from a Belgian court in September for an attempted drug smuggling operation. The situation is politically delicate for Sierra Leone, which previously recalled its ambassador from Guinea after suspected cocaine was found in an embassy vehicle.

Dutch officials are discussing extradition, despite Sierra Leone lacking a formal extradition treaty with the Netherlands. Some sources suggest that Sierra Leone’s government wishes to exchange Leijdekkers for the Netherlands-based social commentator Abdul Will Kamara, also known as Adebayor, who is accused of inciting deadly riots in the country in 2022.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/11/sierra-leone-immigration-chief-fired-footage-drug-lord