LIBERIA – Things have begun to look very fishy on how the George Weah Government is handling investigations of huge drug busts in the country.
Drug trafficking to the country is becoming a continued trend with the arrest of over US$140 Million worth of raw cocaine have busted in two separate cases.
The first was in October of last year. US$100 million arrest of raw cocaine was made in October based on U.S. Government’s tipoff. The US$100 Million worth of drugs was seized in containers from shipping containers imported by a Lebanese firm, TRH.
Last Monday, another US$40 Million of raw cocaine was again arrested in another container brought into the country by the same Lebanese merchants who are owners of TRH at the Freeport of Monrovia.
TRH deals in frozen food, but in recent times, they have been busted with cocaine mixed with frozen food in containers imported from Brazil.
The Liberian Government has not officially commented on the latest seizure, but separate security agencies have continued to give conflicting accounts on the drugs that were arrested.
Worst of all, owners of TRH that are supposed to be real suspects in the two cases are loitering freely and presenting themselves as being the ones who alerted government securities on the drug seizures.
TRH is said to be co-owned by George Abijaodi and Bildal Ibrahim, two Lebanese merchants who have presented themselves as untouchables in Liberia, according to reliable sources in the country.
Several Liberians and foreign Importers have continuously accused the Liberian Government of allegedly giving the two Lebanese merchants special treatment in the frozen food importation business.
They have revealed that the two men have a serious hold on the Ministry of Commerce and other senior government officials.
Unlike the first US$100 million seizure last October which was made possible by the U.S. Government, there is scant information on the latest seizure of US$40 million worth of cocaine.
Top sources at the Freeport of Monrovia told Smart News Liberia that the drugs were arrested based on the alertness of some whistle-blowers in the port.
But just hours after the arrest, TRH, the firm in whose containers the US$40 million and US$100 million cocaine were arrested, issued a statement indicating they raised the red flag that led to the arrest.
The TRH statement said: “On Monday, January 30, 2023, TRH Trading Corporation, the largest importer of frozen foods in Liberia, alerted authorities of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), the Liberia Seaport Police, the Liberia Maritime Authority, and the Port Facility Security Office in Liberia to yet another attempt by drug smugglers to bring narcotics in the country.
The container seized on Monday is marked MNBU4204747 with products manufactured by BRF, the Brazil Frozen Food company which supplies frozen goods to multiple countries around the world.
The cocaine seized Monday was stored in 11 packs worth millions of dollars.
The bust capped a long line of recent smuggling operations in which criminal gangs have been using Liberia to tranship drugs.
However, sources said, the statement by TRH is an attempt to cover up that they are actually involved in the drug trade.
Contrary to the TRH’s press statement, it is evidence that the last US$100 Million drug catch was made possible by intelligence provided by the United States Government, and not the TRH.
Our sources say the owners of TRH are allegedly the real culprits and therefore cannot play safe by claiming to be the ones that alerted the government of the drugs; and that people in high places in the Weah Government are attempting to cover up the real culprits. In investigation continues.
