NDLEA Unveils LEAD Strategy to Turn Drug-War Plans into Results

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has launched a new operational framework, the LEAD Strategy. The agency says it will move Sierra Leone’s fight against drug trafficking and substance abuse from planning to measurable results. The framework puts the Agency’s existing Strategy Master Plan (SMP) into practice. It focuses on coordination, ownership, accountability and evidence-based decision-making.
The NDLEA said LEAD does not replace the SMP’s four pillars. Those pillars are capacity building; law enforcement and implementation of the National Drug Control Act of 2008; drug demand reduction and social reintegration; and research, monitoring and evaluation. LEAD is meant to deliver them.
The framework regroups those priorities into four connected areas:
• Law Enforcement and Supply Reduction
• Education, Prevention and Social Reintegration
• Administration, Capacity and Sustainability
• Data, Research and Accountability
Samuel Dugba, Director of Drug Prevention, Education and Training, said the approach gives every priority under the master plan a clear owner, resources and measurable deliverables. Dugba said the need for a stronger, better-coordinated response became clear in 2022, when data showed a sharp rise in drug-related cases. Figures presented at the event showed that 1,759 people were registered at the Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital that year. Most reported drug users were aged between 20 and 34, which raised concern about the effect on the country’s young population.
Officials also cited the seizure of 512.7 kilogrammes of cannabis and 26,627,890 tramadol capsules recorded. They reported 51 drug-trafficking cases investigated. Dugba said these figures fed the 2022 calls for drug abuse to be declared a public health emergency.
Under LEAD, the NDLEA says it will:
• disrupt trafficking networks
• strengthen intelligence and enforcement
• prevent drug-related harm
• support rehabilitation and reintegration
• build institutional capacity
• improve data collection and accountability
The agency stressed the need for stronger partnerships with schools, the Ministry of Education, the military and the police. It also announced plans to buy more equipment, including body cameras.
The NDLEA Executive Director Prince Amoh Bull-Luseni said the agency was determined to change public perception of its work.
“The narrative about NDLEA will change by the end of October 2026,” he said. He added that effective collaboration would be key to results.
He also called for greater commitment and investment in the fight against drugs. “If you cannot invest little, don’t expect much,” he said.
Thomas Dixon, Chairman of the Guild of Newspaper Editors, said the media’s role should go beyond reporting arrests and seizures. He described it as advocacy journalism that raises public awareness. He said the national interest should guide reporting on people affected by drugs, and he acknowledged the challenges the agency faces. Dixon urged the NDLEA to adopt an open-door policy towards journalists. He asked the agency to let reporters see how drug cases are investigated and how suspects are apprehended. He also urged the media to report both the setbacks and the successes in the fight against drug abuse. Alusine Sesay called for more government budget support for the NDLEA. He said effective enforcement needs adequate resources.
He said journalists depend on timely, reliable and verified data from the agency to produce accurate reporting. He added that they want their stories to inform the public, encourage positive action and make a measurable impact.
Sesay called for closer collaboration between the NDLEA and the media. He said accurate information, public education, institutional capacity and sustained investment are all essential to tackling Sierra Leone’s drug crisis.
The NDLEA said the LEAD Strategy aims to take the national drug-control response beyond plans and commitments to clear responsibility and visible impact.