By Louise Jobe
Operatives of the Drug Law Enforcement Agency-The Gambia (DLEAG), have re-arrested Leon Washington Thayard Hall, a British national who was previously arrested in September 2021, for cultivation of skunk cannabis at two separate locations in Brusubi. Police say he has been disguising himself as a philanthropist and businessman.
This time around, Mr. Hall is arrested together with one Bubacarr Darboe, a Gambian national, on 2 September 2024, with a cumulative total of seventy-nine plants, four packets, two plastic sachets, and some quantities of suspected skunk cannabis, and one wrap of Moroccan hashish.
Eight plants, four packets, and some quantities together with one wrap of Moroccan Hashish, were seized from his Brusubi residence while the remaining seventy-one plants of cannabis and some quantities of skunk cannabis were seized from his Sukuta residence.
In his previous case in 2021, a simultaneous sting operation resulted in his arrest alongside his caretaker, Abdoul Majid Baldeh, a Senegalese national from Ziguinchor in the Senegalese region of Cassamance. The team discovered that he was allegedly cultivating skunk cannabis at his residence in Brusubi where he had manure, fertilizer, and heavy-duty lamps in three different rooms.
In Tranquil, DLEA-G operatives again discovered six wraps of suspected skunk cannabis wrapped in medicine-like plastic sachets and also discovered some material and equipment, manure, and heavy-duty lights used to process the said suspected skunk cannabis.
Mr. Hall was subsequently arraigned in court where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced accordingly with the option of paying a fine, and therefore did not serve a jail term.
According to DLEA-G, Mr. Hall however has not learned from the incident of 2021 and continues to engage in his business activities despite pleading guilty without any due consideration of the impact of his actions on the health and well-being of our people and society. They added that they hope to set an example with Mr Hall to deter others who may want to abuse ‘our’ hospitality.
The agency, in a statement, noted that as the country welcomes every genuine person who can contribute meaningfully towards the socio-economic development of their beloved nation, “we must remain firm and send a strong signal that The Gambia is a hostile territory to illicit drug traffickers and their patrons.” As such, Leon and his ilk who are hellbent on destroying Gambian society by poisoning ‘our’ youth with such illicit products, should be deported from the country after serving his jail term, to send a strong signal to others, the agency added.
