The Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) in collaboration with the Bureau of Customs has seized a huge quantity of Methamphetamine, commonly known as “Kush,” at Roberts International Airport (RIA) and BO Waterside. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, LDEA Officer-in-charge Christopher Peters disclosed that two boxes were confiscated with tealeaf substances believed to be Kush.
Peters said the boxes arrived on July 19, 2024 via SN Brussels flight #SN-245, and were tested on July 25, 2024 by the LDEA and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), confirming the presence of Methamphetamine.
“The seized substance weighed 10 kilograms, with a street value of US$200,000 or L$38,000,000 and a clearing agent for United Parcel Service, Raymond Kpehe, and Michael Brown, the consignee, both Liberians, were arrested and charged with importation, transportation, and conspiracy. Mohammed Nyallay, a Sierra Leonean, was charged as an accomplice,” the LDEA OIC said.
According to him, both suspects have been forwarded to the Unification Town Magisterial Court in Margibi County for prosecution. Meanwhile, the LDEA boss disclosed that the agency’s detachment in Grand Cape Mount County working with Joint Security, grabbed 31 kilograms of Kush onboard a white minibus with a Guinean plate number AD1037 at the BO Waterside border on August 2, 2024.
He further said a Liberian, Abass Sannoh, was arrested and charged with transportation and possession of controlled substances and subsequently forwarded to the Tianii Magisterial Court in Grand Cape Mount County for prosecution.
“The street value of the 31 kilograms of Kush seized at BO Waterside is put at US$620,000 or L$117,800,000. Combined, the total street value of the seizures from RIA and BO Waterside amounts to US$820,000 or LRD 155, 800, 000,” he said.
Peters said the LDEA remains committed to combating the trafficking of controlled substances in Liberia and these significant seizures demonstrate the entity’s determination to keep the country safe from the dangers of narcotics.
