In open letter to President Bio, the opposition leader stressed that Spanish Interior Minister linked “Mocro Mafia” to the MV Arconian investigation and said presence of fugitive Bolle Jos in Sierra Leone indicates organized transnational criminal links

A ship departed from Freetown was intercepted and diverted to Canary Islands, in a crackdown on international drug trafficking; Spanish police found aboard 35-40 tonnes of cocaine in what has been called “record-breaking cocaine seizure in the Atlantic”

The case of Zainab Sheriff, a young female activist sentenced to four years and two months on counts of 'incitement and use of threatening language', contrary to national law, has stirred debate as she reportedly only expressed views about electoral fraud

A growing number of corpses are being found in public spaces; Freetown started burials for sanitary and humanitarian reasons and asked government to investigate on the use of drugs as cause of death, but the matter was solved issuing 'removing' policies

A nationwide ban on artisanal fishing, small-scale fishermen, and industrial trawlers was imposed for the month of February to allow stocks to rebuild; the 2026 "closed season" is now over and all activities have resumed