Residents of Sugar Loaf, Regent in the Mountain Rural district have raised concerns about the resurgence of kush trade in their community. They appear to be are confused about the alarming rates of trafficking and uses of kush among youth amid the continuing national emergency of substance abuse.
The situation trends on like nobody’s business as if Sugar Loaf has been declared as a free state for the trading and use of the deadly drug.
Kush, reports say is a highly addictive mixture of marijuana, fentanyl and tramadol.
The toxic drug has consumed hundreds of lives and psychiatrically damaged scores of users since it first appeared in Sierra Leone four years ago.
Government through a national task force on substance abuse has declared a war on drug with health emergency in April 2024 to control the spread and use of kush.
Police are said to have conducted several raids and arrested dozens of kush kingpins all in furtherance to addressing the problem.
Nevertheless, most of the suspects that are apprehended in police raids are always granted self-bail by the very police and released on ‘orders from above’ based on their relations with higher authorities, an anonymous Sugar Loaf resident told FORUM NEWS last Saturday 8 June 2024.
He revealed that one of the notorious kush dealers who had been arrested multiple times in police raids, Mama G, always return to Sugar Loaf from police custody after her arrest walking free in the community. Bragging publically after one of the police raids, during which she was apprehended probably on the sixth occasions, later walked out police detention saying; ‘No matter what Sugar Loaf and the police do I will continue with my business. Nothing will stop me from going forward… I work with top layers not boys. So, touch not my anointed’.
According to reliable community sources closed to her, Mama G, is highly connected senior politicians in the government and in the security sector that is why no matter how many times she is arrested she can be always released, as she is hardly detained whenever she is caught by the police…
As if it was already legitimized by scores of arrests and swift detentions she always go through in hands of the security personnel conduct raid operations at Sugar Loaf, on the pretext of forthright law enforcement, police remained sightless and deaf to the illegal kush -drug trade of Mama G among others. Additionally, lady baron is also said to have recruited dozens of boys whom paid periodical stipends to aid and abate her in trafficking kush to different parts of Freetown and the country as a whole with impunity.
By ways of curbing the problem, in their village, community elders including the Head Man have recently highlighted range of concerns faced by Sugar Loaf in a jointly signed letter they addressed to the Inspector General of Police. The letter which they copied other key appropriate authorities by alerting the security sector, is yet to be reacted to since it was delivered to the IGP’s office at George Street in Freetown.
Sounding views relating to the issue, Sugar Loaf residents after the other shared similar feelings. They said that they are not comfortable with authorities, apportioning blame on the security sector all the politicians around the Regent-Sugar Loaf axis that are with them while kush is destroying the youth. They said instead of authorities collectively address the challenges they pretend to lack knowledge of it.
Sento Marrah said that since the community mobilized against the disgraceful and informed the leadership of the Sierra Leone Police via a jointly signed letter they addressed to him and others about the challenges, Sugar Loaf residents are yet to get any response from the security forces especially the police. Marrah said that the wave of kush use at Sugar Loaf needs to be brought to halt with the utmost urgency before it goes to an overpowering peak.
Another senior Sugar Loaf resident Abu B. Sumaila, not his real name for personal safety reasons, observed that despite efforts by government in mitigating the kush problem among youth, certain people with very closed proximities with state powers are bent on undermining the national campaign. Sumaila alleged that the village Head Man who is one of the signatories of the jointly signed community letter Sugar Loaf addressed to the police boss, appears to be secretly working in sync with kush dealers for little tokens he allegedly received from them through the illicit scheme to protections them.
In multiple efforts trying to get the sides of Mama G and other alleged Sugar Loaf kush dealers proved unsuccessful. As for the Sugar Loaf Head Man all contacts made available to FORUM NEWS couldn’t connect up to press time.
Kush has killed so many to a point that there is no official figure to ascertain the exact number of lives that have been consumed by the killer drug.
By Forum News Staff Reporter
