Post a comment 
The Sierra Leone police have arrested a man accused of luring women online, drugging them and secretly recording explicit images in order to extort money from victims and their families.
This news came at the Sierra Leone Police press briefing held on Thursday at Officers Mess Kingtom.
In his statement the Head of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Assistant Commissioner of Police Allieu Jalloh, said the suspect, Ayoub Sesay, was tracked and arrested by the police Cyber Unit and has been remanded in custody while investigations continue.
Jalloh said preliminary findings suggest the suspect posed as boyfriend online, persuading women to meet him in person before allegedly drugging them and recording nude videos and photographs without their consent.
“One of the cases involves a woman from Kenema who was convinced to travel to Freetown,” he told journalists. “She was allegedly taken to a bar, rendered unconscious and later discovered that nude images and videos had been recorded.”
Police suspect the woman may have been sexually abused while unconscious. Investigators say the suspect later demanded large sums of money from her family, using the images as leverage.
Jalloh said the suspect was already on two police watch lists with existing inquiry files, indicating the alleged activities may have been ongoing for some time. The incident under investigation dates back to September 2025.
Authorities are awaiting a final investigation report to determine whether further charges, including sexual abuse, will be filed. The case has been taken to court, police said.
The cyber blackmail investigation comes as police step up nationwide operations against violent crime, illegal drugs and human trafficking.
At the same press briefing, police said seven suspects were in custody over the fatal shooting of a fuel attendant during an armed robbery at a fuel station in Worreh village Makeni in January. Among those detained is PC 15 768 Mikel Major Sesay a police officer whose rifle was allegedly used in the attack.
Police also reported progress in the investigation into the killing of Joshua Mansaray, who was beaten to death in Freetown after being wrongly accused of stealing a motorbike.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Abass Bangura of the Transnational Organised Crime Unit said six people had been arrested for drug offences, while nine Liberian nationals were detained for allegedly trafficking people into Sierra Leone under the false promise of travel to Canada.
Police said reports of kidnappings and missing persons had increased, but that many had turned out to be false, leading to several arrests for making misleading reports.
Jalloh urged the public to be cautious in online relationships and to report suspected cybercrime. “Technology is increasingly being used to exploit vulnerable people,” he said. “Early reporting can prevent further harm.”
