Johannesburg

Monday

More sun than clouds. Mild.

13°C
25°C

7 day forecasts

SLeone to tighten drug laws

2008-07-22 17:40

Freetown - Sierra Leone President Enrest Koroma announced urgent plans on Tuesday to tighten up the country's drug laws and impose tougher sentences after a record $100m cocaine bust.

"Cabinet has approved a bill drafted with the assistance of the UN Office on Drug Control to strengthen the legislative framework and the bill will be taken to parliament within the next 72 hours for enactment under a certificate of urgency," Koroma said in a radio and television broadcast.

Observers say the bill is likely to pass without opposition to make convictions for drug offences carry a mandatory sentence.

On July 13 Sierra Leone authorities discovered 600kg of cocaine in a Venezuelan plane which made a forced landing at the country's international airport.

The haul was a record for Sierra Leone and one of the biggest in West Africa this year.

West Africa has become an important transit point for drugs like cocaine coming in from South America en route to the lucrative European markets.

58 detained

According to Koroma the street value of the cocaine seized is $200m, and he added that there are still 58 suspects, including eight foreign nationals, detained in connection with the case.

He did not give their nationalities, but police had earlier said they were mainly South Americans.

"On no account will Sierra Leone be used either as a direct entry point or a final destination for the international trade in narcotics," Koroma stressed in his radio and television speech.

- AFP

inside news24

Weather
Traffic
Lottery
Cpt: 20-31°C Sunny. Warm. Pta: 16-27°C More sun than clouds. Mild.
Jhb: 13-25°C More sun than clouds. Mild. Bloem: 14-28°C Sunny. Pleasantly warm.
Dbn: 21-26°C A few showers. More sun than clouds. Mild. PE: 19-27°C Mostly sunny. Mild.
7 day forecasts...

Jobs - Find your dream job

Teller

Gauteng
First National Bank

QA Sourcing Technologist

Western Cape - Cape Town
Stafforce Recruitment Services

National Retail Manager

Gauteng - JHB North/Sandton
Crabtree & Evelyn
R 20 000 to R 25 000 p/m

Cars - Search 1000's of new and used cars

AUDI

2006 Audi A8 4.2 Quattro Tiptronic
67000kms / Quartz Grey / R379 000

ISUZU

KB300 DTEQ D-Cab LX AT Dsl PU MY07
2005
R 159,500.00

OPEL

Corsa 1.8 GSi 5-dr MY02
2004
R 89,900.00

MAZDA

Mazda6 2.0 Active
2008
R 179,990.00

Property - Find a new home

BANTRY BAY

Single Residential - House R 27 500 000

SOMERSET WEST

Single Residential - House R 18 000 000

KYALAMI ESTATES

Single Residential - House R 5 800 000

Travel - Look, Book, Go!

Free Games - TOO MUCH NEWS? TAKE A BREAK!

Kalahari.net - shop online today

All Games on Sale

God of War III, Battlefield Bad Company II & more new releases coming soon!

1000s of Kids' Books on Sale

Order your little ones Mr Men, Miss Little, Spot, The Vampire Diaries & more!

All Music on Sale

Get 10% off 24hr music, plus order your copy of the NEW Arno Carsten, Nianell & more!

30% Off Selected DVDs

100s of Oscar winners now on sale! American Beauty, Step Up, Happy Feet, Casino Royale & more!

Order ALL your UNISA textbooks from kalahari.net

Find all your UNISA books you require for your studies and get them delivered right to your doorstep!

Hot Deal of the Day!

Oscars 2010 DVDs on Sale

82 Years of Best Pictures

Casablanca, Titanic, Braveheart, American Beauty, Silence Of The Lambs & more!

Visit www.kalahari.net for millions of books, music, DVDs, games & more!