Liberian Authorities Lose Track of Acquitted Suspects after $100 Million Cocaine Seizure

The Liberian authorities admitted on Monday that they had lost track of four men recently tried and exonerated after the seizure of 100 million dollars worth of cocaine, a judgment that shocked even the Minister of Justice.

A criminal court in Monrovia caused a stir on May 18 by finding not guilty a Liberian, a Bissau-Guinean, a Portuguese and a Lebanese arrested in connection with the seizure, in October 2022, of 520 kilos of cocaine with an estimated value of 100 million dollars, concealed according to the authorities in a container from the Brazil.

Result of a cooperation with the UNITED STATES and Brazil, it’s one of the biggest catches ever in the country.

The judgment by a popular jury was all the more surprising as the court ordered the restitution to the suspects of 200,000 dollars seized during the operation.

The affair sheds light on the place of the West African coasts on the roads of the drug traffic coming fromSouth America, especially for Europe. The judgment raised questions about the functioning of justice and its exposure to corruption.

The court’s decision “makes Liberia an international laughingstock”reacted the Minister of Justice, Frank Musah Dean Jr, in a press release. She “Clearly undermines the collective efforts of Liberia and its international allies to combat the illegal transit of illicit drugs, and the use of West Africa as a conduit for international trade from Latin America and ‘elsewhere”he said.

The four suspects, photographed in prison uniform with their lawyers after the trial and released, have disappeared.

“They can’t be found. We don’t know where they are. They got away”told AFP the Minister of Information, Ledgerhood Rennieconfirming the words of the Minister of Justice.

The defendants had attracted attention by trying to buy the container from the businessman who owned it, the justice minister reported. Their acquittal has sown indignation or perplexity on social networks.

The case “accredits the widespread perception locally and abroad of an inherent compromise in justice and the courts”admitted the Minister of Justice.

It also raised questions about the use of popular juries, “while there is constant talk of the immoral practice of bribing the jury during such trials”he wrote.

The State Department, in its report on human rights in Liberia in 2022, notes that judges “are subject to influence attempts and engaged in corruption”.

“Lawyers and prosecutors reportedly instructed defendants to pay bribes to obtain favorable rulings from judges, prosecutors and jurors”say the Foreign Affairs of the United States, Liberia’s main partner.