Sierra Leone Treasures

TREASURES OF SIERRA LEONE

by Mo Zuckerman

The world was shocked to learn 110,000 Sierra Leoneans have had their
limbs and organs hacked off by marauding rebel armies financed by
illegal diamond trade. But Bill Kraus and Olga Romanova were not
shocked. They knew from their previous diamond mine survey flights the
cruel facts. The child soldiers of 10 or 12, stolen from their parents,
drugged by the voodoo loving rebels, were armed with AK 47 assault
rifles and machetes. They hacked off limbs and killed without fear.
These were not cold numbers, but thousands of living humans who were
maimed and disfigured by their own people. Many more thousands who
witnessed this carnage were silent - they were the dead.

The country has been a tin-pot dictatorship with a rotating list of
guest stars and small-time military dictators, with the odd elected
president once in a while. When peaceful, Sierra Leone lives off the
largesse of outside mining companies. It is the world's second-largest
producer of titanium oxide and a major source of diamonds. When not
peaceful which is pretty much all of the time, it lives off the largess
of death and debauchery. For now, it's a nasty place run by heavily
armed, Ray-Banned army punks who zoom around the capital and
countryside in pickup trucks mounted with machine guns. The government
of elected President Kabbah had more to offer. Sierra Leone's
eight-year civil war centered on the struggle to control the country's
vast diamond resources. These diamonds were tainted with blood -- and
not some sentimental souvenir of undying love.

Bill and Olga ran guns in Africa. Running guns was illegal, dangerous
and risky. Most disputes were settled with guns - and life was filled
with tension, fear of treachery and greed for money. At best, life
swung from lust to disgust and from pain to ennui. There was no
loyalty, no trust, and worst of all - there was no romance - only cash
was involved.

Bill and Olga were also lovers and joint owners of their Air Charter
business - bedroom and boardroom were the same for them. In PLM Azur
Hotel, Cotonou, Benin, that night Olga and Bill made love to relieve
tension. Her face, in full frame, was gently reclining on the bed
beneath his. Atop her, he removed both his pants and shirt and then
extended his entire naked body down onto her. He did not know whether
he is being set up for the next climax and he will be the next to die
in total ecstasy. There was that fear of being strangulated by the silk
cord, or shot to death by the loaded Skorpion Machine Pistol under the
pillow. Death from autoerotic sex act was not outside the realm of
possibility.

He enthusiastically performed oral sex on her - she arched her back
with pleasure. They switched positions - she was atop him, kissing him
and reciprocating with full body kisses. Bill looked up during their
lovemaking and saw their reflection in the mirror. Their sex grew
rougher as he turned her over and their bodies were pressed together -
she moved her legs apart. As their sexual tension mounted, their
groaning increased and she grabbed the brass frame of the bed behind
her, and then dug her nails into his back - Bill experienced supreme
pleasure.

Olga turned him over again and knelt over him, calmed him down, and
held his arms above his head. She reached under a pillow next to his
head for a white silk cord. He saw it - considered what it could mean -
and they both challenged each other with their eyes. Excited by
bondage, she bound each of his hands to the brass bed frame behind his
head and then thrusts her hips into him. Her head and back arch
outwards, her breasts reached high, she slowly rotated her hips and
they continue grinding into each other as she strained and extended her
arms back - at the moment of climax, she fell into him and pounded her
fists down next to either side of his head.

There was a violent edge to their climaxing - Bill was both frightened
and excited by Olga - she kept her loaded Skorpion under the pillow.
The climactic end to their lovemaking brought them joy and relaxing
sleep.

In running guns in Africa they had only one condition - pay up front
and you will get the arms and ammunitions. Bill and Olga clearly
remembered his first gun running trip in December 1998. For the most
part, Bill and Olga flew Cessna Caravans and Bell Helicopters in Niger
River Delta, Gabon, Angola and Congo. In December 1998 UN sent a large
contingent of Nigerian troops to Sierra Leone. In Sierra Leone Bill and
Olga were engaged to transport emergency arms supplies to Sierra
Leone's Presidential Guards. These arms were the latest Russian made
SA7 shoulder held missile launchers, and Chinese ZPU-4 AA guns, and
ammunitions for these weapons from Cotonou, Benin, to Freetown, Sierra
Leone. They were only transporting the arms and not supplying
them.

Cotonou to Freetown was about 1,300 miles along the coastline. With a
maximum useful weight of 1.8 tons, Cessna Caravan had range of 900
miles, at a cruise speed of 175 knots. The best part was it had a stall
speed during landing at only 65 knots. One could feather the propeller
to avoid noise and attention from border guards, customs agents and
local police along the coastline of West Africa.

In Cotonou in the daytime, one can buy a wide variety of items, ranging
from pirated computer software, smuggled blank cassettes, French food,
wines and Chinese made radios to monkey's testicles, counterfeit
currencies and voodoo love fetishes. Indian and Lebanese merchants made
money hands down in Benin.

Bill and Olga silently glided the Cessna Caravan floatplane near the
sandy beach near Porto Novo on a full moon night. The plane floated
among the palm grove plantations near Porto Novo. Olga flashed
torchlight three times. All of a sudden a series of gas lamps appeared
and a small number of Beninois lined the shoreline among the palm
trees. A few Toyota pickup trucks appeared with their headlights
dimmed. The wooden packing cases with weapons and ammunitions were
unloaded on to inflatable boats. These were paddled to the Cessna
Caravan floatplane. Olga and Bill both pulled out their Skorpion
Machine Pistols - Olga preferred to keep hers under her bra, but Bill
kept his in his trouser waistband. Bill told the crowd to move back 100
feet, and he wanted only one person to come aboard.

A fat Lebanese appeared among a crowd of Beninois. He wielded a Heckler
and Koch MP5 automatic in one hand and a leather briefcase in the
other. Clearly he was in charge. He paddled on an inflatable boat to
the floatplane and greeted Olga. The Lebanese said in a low
voice.

"May I see your papers please?"

Olga showed the, Passports, FAXes and Identification Papers.
The Lebanese examined them carefully under a bright torch,
page-by-page, satisfying himself on the bonafides of Bill and
Olga.

The Lebanese faced up to Olga and said:

"Make sure you reach Freetown by 6:00 AM"

"We will do that. Where's the money?

"Oh! Its all here in the briefcase, US$ 35,000"

Olga handed over the briefcase to Bill, who counted the $ 100 bills in
$ 1000 packets. The count was made two more times. It was the correct
amount.

Olga nodded:

"Where are the cargo manifest and clearance papers?"

"Just tell them it's from Ali Kerim Bey"

"What's the call signal? Have you fixed the Customs Agents?"

"Baalbek 17. Selim El-Moubarak will meet you. He will pay you $ 5,000
goodwill bonus after you deliver the shipment."

Olga smiled while her hand was under her shirt fondling the Skorpion
MP. The Lebanese waved at his heavily armed and menacing African
bodyguards. By magic the guns slowly pointed down.

The packing cases were loaded through the large cargo doors. Olga made
sure the cargo was secured safely with canvas web tapes. The plane was
refueled from 50 gallon drums and hand-pumps mounted on a boat with
small outboard motor. Bill brought American and British cigarettes,
scotch, cognac and vodka as presents for the loaders and the Lebanese
arms dealer. There were no further words exchanged. The entire
transaction completed without exchange of papers or signatures. Olga
secured the cargo door from within the plane and took her seat next to
Bill. She kept her Skorpion ready to fire. The entire operation took
less than 35 minutes. Cold, ruthless and efficient arms trade.

Bill taxied the Cessna Caravan floatplane down the moonlit silvery
glistening river against the incoming tide. The full moon was reflected
in the river. The gaslights and Toyota trucks were no longer visible.
Bill applied power and allowed the aircraft to find it's own way onto
the step. Snaking the aircraft on down the flat calm river until
airspeed broke the surface tension, Olga took over the controls. She
climbed softly and veered out to sea, out at a steady 125 knots into
the gentle sea breeze. The palm groves, lush, green, and alive, spread
out before them. In the distant Bill could see the city lights of
Cotonou, the hotel district and the headlights of trucks and Peugeot
305 louages on the Lome to Lagos highway passing through Cotonou. A few
ships and offshore oil drilling platforms with flaring tubes in flames
appeared below.

Now began the silent and long eerie flight to Freetown, Sierra Leone.
It was almost midnight. In the dimly lit Cessna Caravan cabin, Bill was
looking at the maps, illuminated green and orange dials and the
avionics settings. His headset was tuned to listen into radio
transmissions and navigation beacons as they charted their course to
Lome, Tema, Dix Cove, Grand Lahou and Fresco towards a clandestine
refueling stop in Sassandra, Cote d'Ivoire. Bill skirted Togo and
Ghana, and headed towards Cote d'Ivoire. After Tabu in Cote d'Ivoire,
they are to fly out further away from the coast to avoid Liberia and
head towards Port Loko, Sierra Leone, just north of Freetown. A few
ships, lying still, could be seen below. The plane was carrying full
load of fuel and cargo. The full moon was bright and the sky was
cloudless. The sea shimmered like a vast silver sheet. Such was the
charm and dream like quality of a magical West African Night.

The plane made its ponderous journey across Gulf of Guinea. At about
3:20 AM they could see the distant lights of Sassandra. Bill had made
prior arrangements with the ELF station chief in Abidjan for refueling
at this coastal town. To make sure, Olga made a low level pass. In the
darkness she could not see anything. Olga scanned the palm groves and
the fishing pirogues on the beach. Olga flew out to the sea and banked
left and made another low-level pass over the coastal villages as she
headed back to the mouth of Sassandra river. Bill gave the instrument
readings in slow monotone as Olga eased the plane down on the water.
Soon thereafter Olga saw a motorboat heading towards them. Bill drew
his Skorpion MP. It turned out to be the refueling tender. After brief
pleasantries the plane was refueled.

Olga, standing on the floats, made a visual check of the equipment for
oil leaks or other malfunctions. As was customary, Olga handed out
presents of a few cartons of cigarettes and two bottles of rum for the
refueling crew.

Olga got back into the pilot's seat and fired up the engine. It did not
start. She started the engine again, this time it sputtered, coughed
and died. The third time, the engine sputtered, emitted blue smoke and
came to life. Olga revved up the engine, steadied the plane and gunned
down the Sassandra River at 110 knots. As she raced down the river the
plane left a huge wake behind. The plane took off and climbed into the
clear moonlit night sky to continue their relentless journey.

At daybreak they were further out to sea avoiding Cape Palmas, Harper
and Buchanan in Liberia. Around 4:30 AM they could get the radio
transmissions from Monrovia playing African rumba dance music. Finally
in early dawn Olga could see the harbor near Freetown, Sierra Leone.
They eased the plane on the water in between a British navy frigate and
a rusting Greek freighter. They waited for their contact to come and
unload the lethal cargo. A Lebanese, Selim El-Moubarak, and Boris
Kirilenko, a Ukrainian, who organized the unloading of the cargo,
greeted Bill and Olga. Selim took them and their baggage to Mammy Yoko
Hotel, Freetown, paid $ 5,000 in cash bonus, and bid them
goodbye.

Bill and Olga found solace and pleasure in bed and in each other's
arms.

The rebels operating from neighboring Liberia controlled the diamond
fields - and guns were badly needed to control the treasures of Sierra
Leone.