West Africa has become increasingly a transit zone for drugs produced in Latin America and destined for Europe.
Liberian authorities, with the help of the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, seized 520 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $100 million, the Justice minister and the U.S. embassy said. For several years, West Africa has become a transit zone for drugs produced in Latin America and destined for Europe.
“I am here to confirm a major seizure that was conducted on October 1, 2022, which led to the taking of $100 million worth of pure cocaine,” in Topoe village on the western outskirts of the capital Monrovia, Liberian Justice Minister Musa Dean said during a press conference.
A Guinea-Bissau national “has been arrested and is in custody,” as is a Lebanese national, he added. The National Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) confirmed the two arrests, saying that other accomplices were still at large.
It did not confirm the information shared on social networks that the drugs were stored in containers of frozen fish. The investigation is ongoing, she said.