Liberia seizes $370m cocaine haul
Liberian police say they have seized high-grade cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $370 million in the country’s largest-ever drugs bust. The operation in Duazon, east of Monrovia, followed a long-running investigation and came after a separate airport seizure last month; several people, including two foreigners, were arrested.
Liberian authorities have announced the seizure of what police describe as high-grade cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $370 million, in what officials are calling the country’s biggest drugs bust in recent years. Police released photos and video showing dozens of sealed suitcases and boxes inside a lorry seized during a raid in Duazon, about 20km east of Monrovia.
Police chief Gregory Coleman told the BBC forensic tests confirmed the substance was cocaine. Several people were detained in the operation, including two foreign nationals and several Liberians, though formal charges had not been filed at the time of the announcement. Coleman said the arrest followed a long-running probe into suspected trafficking networks that he says resurfaced between 2018 and 2023. "Over the last one-and-a-half years, we've been surveilling them and this is the result of that operation," he told reporters.
The investigation intensified after security officers at Roberts International Airport intercepted six cargo boxes last month that were falsely declared as food seasoning and textiles; those boxes reportedly contained nearly 200 compressed blocks of cocaine destined for export. Liberian Vice-President Jeremiah Koung praised security forces and warned that anyone found culpable would "feel the full weight of the law, regardless of who you are." Police also said one of the detained foreigners was found carrying two passports (Spanish and Colombian) and the other held a Serbian passport.
The bust comes amid wider concern across West Africa, long identified by international agencies as a key transit corridor for cocaine moving from South America to Europe. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime estimates at least 30 percent of cocaine bound for Europe now passes through the region, and UN agencies have warned of increasingly sophisticated cartel operations.
Cocaine seizures in West Africa have reportedly risen steadily since 2019, reaching roughly 30 tonnes in 2025. For residents of the British Virgin Islands, the Liberia seizure is a reminder that transatlantic trafficking routes and international organised crime can have local impacts — from increased pressure on maritime and airport security to the risk of diversion into Caribbean markets.
Local law-enforcement agencies and port authorities in the region continue to emphasize intelligence sharing and vigilance at ports, marinas and freight checkpoints. Liberia has recorded several high-profile interdictions in recent years, including a 520kg cocaine seizure at Monrovia’s seaport in 2022.
President Joseph Boakai, in office since 2024, has moved to strengthen anti-drug leadership after criticism of enforcement delays following earlier seizures. As investigations proceed, international arrest warrants are reportedly being pursued for suspects still at large and a joint probe by Liberia’s police and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency is ongoing.
Primary source: VINO