Suspects in $100m cocaine shipment trial go missing in Liberia

Following a trial jury’s unexpected acquittal of four drug dealers connected to a 100 million dollar shipment of cocaine, Liberian authorities admitted on Monday that they had completely lost track of them.

In October 2022, Liberian security personnel, with help from the US and Brazil, seized a container containing cocaine.

According to Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean Jr., the four men—a Liberian, a Portuguese, a Lebanese, and a citizen of Guinea-Bissau—were apprehended while attempting to claim ownership of the 520 kilogrammes of cocaine that had been smuggled from Brazil.

It was hailed as one of Liberia’s greatest victories over drug traffickers.

However, a Monrovia jury found them not guilty on May 18, and the court ordered that the $200,000 in cash that had been taken from them be returned.

According to Musa Dean, the four left as soon as they were granted release by the court.

“They can’t be found. We don’t know where they are. They have fled,” Information Minister Ledgerhood Rennie told AFP.

The case lit up social networks with questions about the value of a people’s jury in the West African nation.

The justice minister warned that the verdict undermined the efforts of Liberia and an international coalition to clamp down on the illegal drug trade.

“The courts must be ready to act in conformity with the laws and the gravity of the breach of our laws,” said Musa Dean.

“The accused were caught red-handed attempting to take ownership of the container holding the illicit drug by attempting to bribe the businessman housing the container,” he said.

“Yet the court, through the … a 12-man jury said such brazen evidence didn’t warrant a guilty verdict.

“What more can the joint security and the Justice Ministry do to convince the court that the law was broken,” he pleaded.

“These kinds of verdicts only lend credence to the widely held international and local perception that the judiciary, namely the courts, are inherently compromised,” said the minister.

“The ruling has also brought Liberia to international ridicule.”

A US State Department report last year on human rights in Liberia found judges faced attempts to sway their rulings. Defence and prosecution lawyers encouraged defendants to pay up for the right outcomes.