Liberian police have made the country's largest drug bust on record, raiding a storage site in Duazon — a town roughly 20 kilometres east of the capital Monrovia — and uncovering a massive quantity of cocaine estimated to be worth around $370 million on the street. Police chief Gregory Coleman confirmed that forensic tests identified the substance as cocaine, with photos and video from the scene showing dozens of sealed suitcases and boxes packed inside a lorry. Coleman described the find as the largest drugs seizure in Liberia in recent years.
The raid came after approximately 18 months of surveillance on a suspected trafficking network that, according to police, had resurfaced in Liberia between 2018 and 2023. Several people were arrested, including two foreign nationals and a number of Liberians. One foreign suspect was carrying both a Colombian and a Spanish passport; the other held a Serbian passport. No charges have been filed yet, and it remains unclear where the drugs originated or where they were ultimately headed. Vice-President Jeremiah Koung praised the security forces and warned that those found responsible would face the full force of the law, regardless of their identity.
The bust follows a separate seizure just weeks earlier at Roberts International Airport, where security staff intercepted six cargo boxes falsely labelled as food seasoning and textiles, finding nearly 200 compressed blocks of cocaine intended for export. That case generated political controversy after critics alleged authorities responded too slowly, allowing some suspects to leave the country before arrests could be made. President Joseph Boakai, who took office in 2024, ordered a joint investigation by police and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency; several suspects have since been charged and international arrest warrants are being sought for others still at large.
The twin seizures reflect a broader regional trend. West Africa has become a significant transit hub for cocaine moving from South America to Europe, facilitated by relatively weak border controls across parts of the region. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime estimates that at least 30 percent of cocaine bound for Europe now passes through West Africa, with regional seizures climbing steadily since 2019 to reach around 30 tonnes in 2025. Local consumption, including crack cocaine, is also rising in transit countries. The United Nations has warned that trafficking networks operating in the region are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Liberia is no stranger to major drug seizures — a 520-kilogram cocaine haul was intercepted at Monrovia's seaport in 2022 — but the scale of the latest discovery underlines the growing pressure on the country's law enforcement institutions. President Boakai has reshuffled leadership at the national drug enforcement agency multiple times since taking office, reflecting sustained pressure to address what analysts describe as a deepening trafficking problem along West Africa's Atlantic coast.