Sierra Leone Customs Confiscate 2,500 Jerry Cans Near Guinean Border

Sierra Leone customs officials have seized about 2,500 jerry cans containing palm oil that were being smuggled out of the country to neighboring Guinea.

The incident which occurred at the weekend follows a ban less than a week old by the government of Sierra Leone on the export of palm oil and rice from the country that is recovering from a long war.

In the banning order, the government warned that violators will be arrested and charged.

The containers were seized by by custom and law enforcement officials at Kambia, 220 miles north of the capital Freetown.

A release issued by the government said “every Sierra Leonean is aware that rice and palm oil are strategic and sensitive commodities in the society and scarcity of any of the two products is bound to create undue hardship for the average Sierra Leonean.”

But the seizure of the commodities comes in the wake of a price hike of the two commodities.

Source African Press Agency

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