Liberian authorities have intercepted the largest cocaine haul in the country’s history during a raid just outside the capital.
Police said they raided a suspected storage facility in Duazon, about 20km east of Monrovia, on Tuesday. Photos released by the Liberia National Police showed a truck packed with dozens of sealed suitcases and boxes. Forensic tests confirmed the contents were high-grade cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $370 million, about £220 million.
Police Chief Gregory Coleman said several people were arrested, including two foreigners and multiple Liberian nationals. No formal charges have been filed yet.
One of the foreigners was found with both a Spanish and a Colombian passport. The other was carrying a Serbian passport. Coleman said investigators are still working to determine where the drugs came from and where they were headed.
The bust followed more than a year of surveillance into trafficking networks. “Between 2018 and 2023, apparently there was a resurface of major trafficking and transiting in Liberia. Over the last one-and-a-half years, we’ve been surveilling them and this is the result of that operation,” Coleman told the BBC.
Vice-President Jeremiah Koung praised the security forces and warned that anyone found responsible would “feel the full weight of the law, regardless of who you are.”
The Duazon seizure comes a month after officers at Roberts International Airport stopped six cargo boxes falsely labeled as food seasoning and textiles. Inside were nearly 200 compressed blocks of cocaine bound for export. That case drew criticism for slow progress, and President Joseph Boakai ordered a joint investigation by police and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency. Several suspects have since been charged, and international warrants are out for others.
West Africa remains a major corridor for cocaine moving from South America to Europe. According to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, about 30% of cocaine headed for Europe now passes through the region. Seizures across West Africa have climbed since 2019, reaching roughly 30 tonnes in 2025.
Liberia has seen other big busts recently, including 520kg of cocaine intercepted at Monrovia’s seaport in 2022. Since taking office in 2024, President Boakai has reshuffled the leadership of the drug agency several times amid mounting pressure to curb trafficking.
