Liberian authorities acting on U.S. security intelligence have arrested two foreigners and are searching for two more suspected of trying to smuggle $100 million of cocaine seized in the West African country, officials said Tuesday.
The estimated value of the drugs is one-fifth of most of Liberia’s post-war annual budgets since the country’s civil war ended in 2003.
“We want to be clear that Liberia will not be a haven for drug traffickers, whether as a point of transit or final destination,” Justice Minister Frank Musa Dean said. “Those arrested will face the full force of our law.”
Authorities said one of the suspects, a citizen of Guinea-Bissau, was arrested in Monrovia, the capital. The second suspect, a Lebanese national, was nabbed while attempting to flee the country.
Authorities are still searching for two other people, Brazilian and Portuguese nationals, who are still on the run, a spokesman for the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency said Tuesday.
Officials have said that 520 kilograms (1,146 pounds) of cocaine were concealed in a huge consignment of frozen poultry products that had been delivered to a cold storage facility near Monrovia’s seaport.
Drug enforcement agency personnel acting on the American tip reportedly stormed the facility moments after the container had arrived.