Two Liberian Women Sentenced to 35 Years for Tramadol Trafficking

Two Liberian women, Annet Maflah and Lovetta Maflah, have each been sentenced to 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of drug dealing and transportation in Sierra Leone.

The women were caught with a large quantity of tramadol tablets while transporting the drugs from Kenema to Koidu Town, Kono District.

They appeared before Justice Mark Ngegba at the High Court in Freetown, facing four counts of unlawful possession of drugs under the National Drug Control Act 2008 and related laws. Court records show that on November 16, 2025, the women were found in Koidu Town with 2,130 tramadol tablets, weighing 20.4 kilograms, without lawful authority.

Both defendants, who were unrepresented in court, pleaded guilty to all charges. During mitigation, Lovetta Maflah, who is six months pregnant, appealed for leniency citing her condition, while Annet Maflah offered no additional plea.

Justice Ngegba commended their guilty pleas for saving court time but stressed the destructive impact of drug trafficking on Sierra Leone’s youth. “While I acknowledge their circumstances, I will not overlook the fact that drug abuse has devastated many lives in our society,” he said.

In his ruling, Justice Ngegba sentenced each woman to 35 years’ imprisonment on all four counts, to run concurrently. He noted that the maximum sentence reflects the severity of drug trafficking and its societal harm.