By Kadijatu Bangura, Daily Scope Reporter
A Freetown High Court has handed down an 80-year jail term to Abdul Rahman Conteh after convicting him of possession, dealing, and selling kush, a prohibited synthetic drug.
Justice Mark Ngegba of High Court No. 3 delivered the sentence on Friday, ruling that the prosecution proved all elements of the three charges beyond reasonable doubt.
Court records show that on 29th October 2025, Conteh was arrested in Freetown with 560 wraps of suspected kush weighing 600 grams. He was arraigned on 8th December 2025 and pleaded not guilty to unlawful possession, dealing in, and selling the drug without lawful authority.
During trial, the prosecution presented three witnesses. Assistant Superintendent of Police Joseph Stevena, a forensic analyst with the Transnational Organised Crime Unit, testified as PW1. He told the court he received the exhibits on 30th October 2025 and conducted chemical and microscopic tests, which confirmed the presence of synthetic cannabinoids. The lab request form and report were tendered as Exhibits A and B1-B2.
Detective Police Sergeant Sahr Koyoma Sundu, PW2, said he took over investigations on 19th November 2025 and registered the 560 wraps as court exhibits. Ten wraps were sent for analysis while the remaining 550 were produced in court as Exhibits F1-F550.
Conteh elected to make an unsworn statement in his defence. He denied ownership of the drugs, claiming he was arrested during a police raid at a football training ground in Calaba Town after the actual dealer fled. He alleged he was beaten and detained because he was a stranger in the area.
Justice Ngegba rejected the defence, citing Conteh’s voluntary caution statement tendered as Exhibits C1-C7. In that statement, the convict admitted selling kush and described how he was caught by plain-clothes officers while attempting to sell the 560 wraps for NLe 8,000.
“The defendant’s own admission clearly established possession, dealing, and sale of a prohibited drug,” the judge ruled. He also relied on the forensic report confirming the substance was kush, and cited Section 57 of the National Drugs Control Act, 2008, which presumes all samples in a seizure share the same properties.
Consequently, Justice Ngegba sentenced Conteh to 10 years on Count One and 35 years each on Counts Two and Three. The sentences will run consecutively, totaling 80 years imprisonment.
State Counsel A. Jalloh and E. Deen prosecuted, while M.K. Dauda appeared for the convict.
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