DRUG BUST IN SIERRA LEONE

FREETOWN (AFP)- Police in Sierra Leone have arrested a total of 58
suspects, including a number of foreigners, in connection with
Sunday's record cocaine bust in the West African state.

Deputy Inspector-General Oliver Somassa said those detained included
Americans, Mexicans, Colombians, Venezuelans, Brazilians and
nationals from Guinea-Bissau and Nigeria. He did not give precise figures.

Others included local airport officials and five police officers. An
air traffic controller and an employee of a bank at the airport were
picked up trying to cross into Guinea, Superintendent Frank Sesay said.

Sources said the suspects were being detained at the maximum security
Pademba Road prison in the capital Freetown.

A checkpoint manned by armed guards was set up yesterday night on the
main road to the prison.

Somassa said police were still searching the area around the airport
in an effort to track down other suspects.

"We have made a lot of progress and we are on top of the affair," he said.

The arrests follow the discovery on Sunday of 600 kilos of cocaine in
an airplane bearing a fake Red Cross emblem at Freetown's
international Lungi airport.

Police said the plane had come from Venezuela, which is an important
exporter of cocaine shipments destined for Europe.

The seizure is a record for Sierra Leone and one of the biggest drugs
hauls this year in West Africa.

Transport and Aviation Minister Kemoh Sesay said yesterday that
maritime and port authorities had been ordered to step up checks on
all boats in local waters.