By Adama Makasuba
Top official of the nation’s State Intelligence Service (SIS) has advised that hard drug-related threats (should) be priority collection of the Intelligence and the Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
Ousman Sowe, Director General of the SIS testifying at the TRRC on Wednesday, 6th January, 2021 said: “The Gambia being a West Africa Sahel country, I would advise to maintain that drugs related threats be a collection priority of Intelligence services in collaboration with lead agencies in The Gambia Drug Law Enforcement Agency.”
The 49 -year-old man told the commission’s lead counsel, Ensa Faal that “if you will permit me to elaborate on this matter. Drug being a threat to national security and the intelligence being the key role of collection and investigation to threats, I think it would be advisable for drugs to be a matter of the Intelligence interest.”
He elaborated further that “Among other things it is the existing nexus between drugs and terrorism. If you look at the Sahel and West Africa, you look at the terrorism organisations and the funding that there is an established finding that there is a close nexus correlation between drug trafficking and terrorism.”
He advised that collection and investigation of hard drug related matter should be among the priorities of the State Intelligence Service in collaboration with the Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
“The function of the Intelligence service, secret service is to collect analyse disseminate information regarding matters that are threat to national security of the state. Subversion, substrate, insurgency, insurrection, rebellion, espionage, terrorism, Drug trafficking, money laundering those are hostile intelligence. The Intelligence keeps an eye,” he told the Commission.
