Monrovia – Liberian authorities have seized cocaine with a street value of around $317 million (R5.3 billion) that was bound for Europe, a senior police official said, in one of the West African country’s largest recorded drug busts.
Officers found 3 971 kg of cocaine in the town of Duazon, east of the capital Monrovia, on Tuesday, Gregory Coleman, the inspector general of the Liberian National Police, said.
They arrested two suspects, one with passports from both Spain and Colombia, the other with a Serbian passport, he added.
Video and pictures released by the force showed a house filled with cardboard boxes and suitcases wrapped in cling film and marked “Coco” and “Poseidon”.
It was unclear where the drugs came from, Coleman said. A chemical analysis needed to be done and markings examined to identify the country of origin, he added.
Drug smugglers often use West African countries as a transit point to smuggle large volumes of cocaine from South America to Europe.
Sophisticated networks storing drugs in West Africa
Last month Liberian authorities seized 237.6 kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $19 million at Roberts International Airport outside Monrovia. That shipment came from Sierra Leone and was bound for Britain, Coleman said.
It has been linked to Dutch cocaine kingpin Jos Leijdekkers, Coleman added, though he declined to provide details. Reuters reported last year that Leijdekkers, one of Europe’s most wanted fugitives, had found refuge and high-level protection in Sierra Leone.
Coleman said the police had not established a link between the two cases and believed the cocaine involved came from different sources.
“The recent seizures in Liberia illustrate wider trends on cocaine trafficking globally,” with drug traffickers diversifying routes and increasing volumes, Francois Patuel, the head of research for West and Central Africa for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said.
Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo, director of the Observatory of Illicit Economies in West Africa — which is part of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime — said some of the world’s most sophisticated cocaine networks are operating in West Africa where big volumes of drugs are being stored.
- Liberian authorities seized 3,971 kg of cocaine worth approximately $317 million in Duazon, near Monrovia, one of the largest drug busts in the country.
- Two suspects were arrested, holding Spanish-Colombian and Serbian passports; the origin of the drugs remains unknown pending chemical analysis.
- West Africa is commonly used as a transit hub for smuggling cocaine from South America to Europe.
- A prior seizure in Liberia involved 237.6 kg of cocaine linked to Dutch cocaine kingpin Jos Leijdekkers, though no connection to the latest bust was confirmed.
- Experts highlight that West Africa hosts some of the most sophisticated cocaine networks globally, with traffickers diversifying routes and increasing shipments.
Monrovia - Liberian authorities have seized cocaine with a street value of around $317 million (R5.3 billion) that was bound for Europe, a senior police official said, in one of the West African country's largest recorded drug busts.
Officers found 3 971 kg of cocaine in the town of Duazon, east of the capital Monrovia, on Tuesday, Gregory Coleman, the inspector general of the Liberian National Police, said.
Video and pictures released by the force showed a house filled with cardboard boxes and suitcases wrapped in cling film and marked "Coco" and "Poseidon".
It was unclear where the drugs came from, Coleman said. A chemical analysis needed to be done and markings examined to identify the country of origin, he added.
Drug smugglers often use West African countries as a transit point to smuggle large volumes of cocaine from
Last month Liberian authorities seized 237.6 kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $19 million at Roberts International Airport outside Monrovia.
It has been linked to Dutch cocaine kingpin Jos Leijdekkers, Coleman added, though he declined to provide details. Reuters reported last year that Leijdekkers, one of Europe's most wanted fugitives, had found refuge and high-level protection in Sierra Leone.
Coleman said the police had not established a link between the two cases and believed the cocaine involved came from different sources.
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Lucia Bird Ruiz-Benitez de Lugo, director of the Observatory of Illicit Economies in West Africa — which is part of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime — said some of the world's most sophisticated cocaine networks are operating in West Africa where big volumes of drugs are being stored.
