Sierra Leone and Liberia officers receive US training to combat trafficking

The United States government, through its Overseas Criminal Investigations (OCI) Unit, has trained 63 border and security officers from Sierra Leone and Liberia. The training, conducted in September 2026 along the Sierra Leone–Liberia border, focused on human trafficking detection, identifying fraudulent travel documents, and imposter detection.

This initiative aims to strengthen regional security and combat transnational organized crime in West Africa. The program utilized real-life cases to teach officers how to recognize suspicious travel patterns and identify criminal networks exploiting international borders.

Separately, the US Department of State’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report retained Sierra Leone on Tier 2. While the report noted progress, including an increase in trafficking investigations from 13 to 39 cases and more prosecutions, it highlighted ongoing challenges. These include corruption, inadequate funding, weak victim protection, and a decline in actual convictions, which fell from four to two.