Cocaine worth $370m seized in Liberia's biggest-ever drugs bust

A huge quantity of cocaine has been seized during a raid on a suspected illegal storage facility near Liberia's capital, Monrovia, in what authorities say is the biggest drugs bust in the country's history.

Videos and photos released by police showed dozens of sealed suitcases and boxes inside a lorry that investigators believed contained high-grade cocaine.

Police chief Gregory Coleman told the BBC that forensic tests had confirmed the substance was cocaine, with an estimated street value of more than $370m (£220m).

Several people were arrested during the raid in Duazon, a town about 20km (12 miles) east of Monrovia, including two foreigners and several Liberians.

No formal charges have yet been announced for those arrested.

The police chief said the seizure on Tuesday was the result of a long-running investigation into suspected drug-trafficking networks operating in Liberia.

"Between 2018 and 2023, apparently there was a resurface of major trafficking and transiting in Liberia. Over the last one-and-a-half years, we've been surveilling them and this is the result of that operation," said Coleman.

He said the drugs were "tested and confirmed" to be cocaine.

It was "largest drugs bust" in Liberia in recent years, he added.

It is still unclear from where the drugs originated or their intended destination.

Coleman told the BBC that the police had been investigating that when the two foreigners subsequently arrived in Liberia and were arrested.

He confirmed that one of them was carrying two passports - a Spanish one and a Colombian one - while the other held a Serbian passport.

Liberian Vice-President Jeremiah Koung praised the security forces for the operation and said whosoever was found culpable would "feel the full weight of the law, regardless of who you are".

The Duazon operation follows the interception of six cargo boxes at Roberts International Airport last month after security officers detected irregularities during screening.

The shipment, falsely declared as containing food seasoning and textiles, was found to contain nearly 200 compressed blocks of cocaine destined for export, according to investigators.

The airport seizure sparked political controversy after critics accused the authorities of moving too slowly to identify suspects, raising concerns that some people linked to the case had left the country before arrests could be made.

President Joseph Boakai subsequently ordered a joint investigation involving police and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA).

Several suspects have since been charged and international arrest warrants are being pursued for others still at large.

West Africa has long been regarded by international law enforcement agencies as a key transit route for cocaine trafficked from South America to Europe, taking advantage of porous borders and weak enforcement in parts of the region.

According to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, at least 30% of cocaine destined for Europe now passes through the region, while local cocaine consumption, including crack cocaine, has also been rising.

The organisation says cocaine seizures in West Africa have increased steadily since 2019, reaching about 30 tonnes in 2025.

The UN has also warned about the growing threat posed by drug-trafficking networks in the region, saying the "increasingly sophisticated operations launched by drug cartels is an issue of great concerns".

Liberia has experienced several high-profile drug seizures in recent years, including a 520kg cocaine haul intercepted at Monrovia's seaport in 2022.

Since taking office in 2024, President Boakai has reshuffled the leadership of Liberia's drug enforcement agency several times, as his government faces growing pressure to tackle the problem.

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