A Nigerian national, Patrick Nonso, is currently in the custody of the Sierra Leone Police Authority after he was allegedly intercepted at the Freetown International Airport with 46 wraps of a white substance suspected to be cocaine.
Nonso, who was travelling on an Italian passport at the time of his arrest, was apprehended on Sunday, February 22, 2026, during a routine screening exercise conducted by airport security operatives.
It was gathered from a Sierra Leonean online news platform, Sierraloaded, on Tuesday that the suspect was flagged during standard checks before officers of the Sierra Leone Police moved in and took him into custody.
Confirming the arrest, police authorities disclosed that the suspect was fully cooperating with investigators.
“The suspect is currently in police custody and is cooperating fully with investigators,” police were quoted as saying.
Authorities have since launched a full-scale investigation to determine the origin of the suspected narcotics and to establish whether the suspect acted alone or had accomplices.
“Authorities have opened an inquiry to trace the source of the suspected narcotics and to ascertain if there are accomplices,” the report stated.
No formal charges have been preferred against Nonso as of the time of filing this report, as forensic analysis was still ongoing to confirm the exact composition and weight of the seized substance.
As part of the probe, investigators are said to be combing through the suspect’s travel history and immigration records for leads.
Airport security officials were said to have rendered full cooperation to law enforcement in line with established protocols for managing cases involving suspected controlled substances.
The police gave assurances that further updates would be made available to the public as the investigation progressed.
