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The Sierra Leone Ports and Harbours Authority has strongly refuted allegations linking the country to a container found with cocaine in Nigeria, stating that verified shipping records prove the container left Freetown empty.
The Authority issued a press release on November 14, 2025, in response to media reports from Nigeria that claimed a container (GCNU1332851) associated with Sierra Leone was discovered with the illicit drug at a Nigerian port.
According to the Authority, it has not received any formal notification from the Nigeria Ports Authority regarding the incident but has proactively requested official information.
In the meantime, the Sierra Leone Ports Authority presented a detailed timeline of the container’s movement, provided by the shipping company Grimaldi and the Container Terminal Operator (FTL) in Freetown. The records indicate the container was a standard 20-foot “dry” container that was delivered full to a consignee in Freetown on October 8, 2025.
Crucially, the Authority states the container was returned empty to the terminal on October 11, 2025. It was then inspected, sealed, and loaded onto the vessel Grande Ghana 0225 on October 24, 2025.
The loading report, signed by the vessel’s Chief Officer, confirmed the container was empty, with a weight of 2,200 kg—the standard for an empty 20-foot container.
The vessel departed for Lagos on October 24 and berthed in Nigeria on October 29. The container was discharged on October 30. The Authority notes that the container was only flagged by Nigerian authorities eight days later, on November 7.
By presenting this chronology, the Sierra Leone Ports Authority aims to dissociate the nation’s ports from the incident, asserting that the illicit contents could not have originated from Sierra Leone given the documented evidence that the container was empty upon departure.
The Authority reaffirmed its commitment to transparent and accountable port operations.
Because shipping records can’t be forged right? I don’t believe Nigerian drug dealers just decided to use any random container to ship their drugs. That is not the way it works. Even if the container left empty and the drugs were loaded in Nigeria, there is a drug connection from SL. What was in the container when it came into our country?
1000 kg of cocaine in “an empty” 2200 kg container? That amount of cocaine is almost half the weight of the empty container! This needs serious investigation