By: Audrey Raymonda John
A 46-year-old Zambian national and hairdresser, Sharod Mweemba, has been remanded at the Female Correctional Centre in Freetown by Justice Adrian Fisher of the High Court No. 1 over allegations of unlawful possession, transportation, collection and dealing in cocaine.
Mweemba is standing trial on four counts under the National Drugs Control Act, 2008, relating to the alleged unlawful handling of prohibited drugs.
The charges include unlawful possession of drugs, contrary to Section 8(a) of the Act; transportation of a prohibited drug, contrary to Section 7(b); collection of a prohibited drug, also contrary to Section 7(b); and dealing in a prohibited drug, contrary to Section 7(c).
According to the particulars of the offence, on June 24, 2026, at the Freetown International Airport in Lungi, Port Loko District, the accused was allegedly found in possession of two small pellets and one large pellet containing cocaine hydrochloride, with a reported total weight of 1.9 kilogrammes, without lawful authority.
The second count alleged that, on the same date, Mweemba transported cocaine from Freetown to the Freetown International Airport in Lungi without lawful authority.
The third count alleged that she collected cocaine hydrochloride from a guest house in Freetown, while the fourth accuses her of dealing in the prohibited drug without lawful authority.
When the charges were read and explained to her in court, Mweemba pleaded not guilty to all four counts.
The State prosecutor, Musa Pious Sesay Esq. Jr., requested a short adjournment to enable him to contact the Zambian Embassy, following advice from the presiding judge.
During the proceedings, Justice Fisher asked Mweemba whether she had travelled from Zambia to Freetown to collect a package. She answered in the affirmative.
Asked about the contents of the package, Mweemba reportedly told the court that the person who offered her a job had instructed her to collect the package and travel with it if she wanted the job.
She further told the court that she collected the package in Freetown and was travelling with it to Dakar.
Following the proceedings, Justice Fisher ordered that Mweemba be remanded at the Female Correctional Centre in Freetown pending the continuation of the case.
The matter was adjourned to October 23, 2026, for further proceedings.