Leon Washington Thayard Hall, Arrested British National
By Buba Gagigo
The Drug Law Enforcement Agency, The Gambia (DLEAG), has announced the arrest of Leon Washington Thayard Hall, a British national, on drug-related charges. Hall was previously arrested on September 25, 2021, around 20:00 GMT for cultivating skunk cannabis at two locations in Brusubi while posing as a philanthropist and businessman.
“He was arrested again this time around on the 2nd of September 2024 around 22:00 hours GMT onwards together with one Bubacarr Darboe, a Gambian national with a cumulative total of seventy-nine (79) plants, four (4) packets, two (2) plastic and some quantities of suspected skunk cannabis and one (1) wrap of Moroccan hashish. Eight (8) plants, four (4) packets, and some quantities together with one (1) wraps of Moroccan Hashish were seized at Brusubi while the remaining seventy-one (71) plants and some quantities of skunk cannabis was arrested at Sukuta,” DLEAG reported.
DLEAG said that in the 2021 case, a simultaneous sting operation led to Hall’s arrest alongside his caretaker, Abdoul Majid Baldeh, a Senegalese national from Ziguinchor, Casamance. Authorities discovered that Hall was cultivating skunk cannabis at his Brusubi residence, equipped with manure, fertilizers, and heavy-duty lamps used for cultivation in three different rooms.
“At Tranquil, operatives discovered six wraps of suspected skunk cannabis wrapped in a medicine like plastic sachets. They also discovered some material and equipment, manure and heavy-duty lights used to process the said suspected skunk cannabis. He was subsequently arraigned in court where he pleaded guilty and was sentenced accordingly with the option of payment of a fine. He paid the fine and therefore did not serve a jail term.” DLEAG state.