House Resuscitates US$100M Cocaine Case Amid ‘Controversial’ Verdict

CAPITOL HILL, Monrovia – Just as the US$100 million drug bust case appears to be over, the plenary has launched a bid to reopen the case.

In its Thursday’s Sitting, the House of Representatives mandated its Committee on National Security extract information from the Liberia National Police and the Ministry of Justice about the US$100 million drug bust case in Liberia.

Last year, in October, the Liberian security, with the help of U.S. intelligence, uncovered what had gone down in the nation’s history as the largest volume of drug in Liberia to be arrested – 520 kilograms worth US$100 million.

Soon, it was burned after four suspects were apprehended. The security apparatus headed by the Ministry of Justice and its American counterpart were applauded for arresting the illegal substances on home soil.

But what the public, and perhaps the Minister of Justice and the Americans did not expect was that the suspects would be free seven months later.

In a shock verdict on May 18 this year, the 12-man jury listening handed down a non-guilty verdict in favor all four defendants including a Liberian Oliver Zayzay and three foreigners, Makki Ahmed Issam, Adulai Djalo and Malam Conte who were arrested for allegedly attempting to purchase the cocaine, which the government claimed had been smuggled among pig feet from Brazil in a container owned AJA Group Holdings, the largest importer of fridge goods in Liberia.

The suspects had been charged with money laundering, unlicensed possession of controlled drugs, unlicensed importation of controlled drugs, and criminal conspiracy.

Cllr. Frank Musa Dean termed the verdict as appalling and in an unprecedented move, petitioned the Supreme Court to suspend the Lower Court’s verdict, but was denied.

However, the Plenary of the House of Representatives, in its Thursday’s sitting, authorized its Committee on National Security to extract more information from the Liberia National Police and the Ministry of Justice concerning the drug case and to find out whether the government is instituting any alternative measure that could lead to finding the actual perpetrators.

The plenary’s decision to mandate its Committee on National Security to establish the alternative measures being pursued into finding the actual perpetrators signifies that the august body is not satisfied with the jury’s verdict, which has been seen by many as a missed opportunity in Liberia’s fight against illicit drugs which is fast destroying a large portion of the youthful population.