By the Editorial Board
More than six days. Six suspects. One controversial Zero name. Zero accountability.
The Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency expects Liberians to celebrate one of the largest cocaine seizures in this nation’s history—237.6 kilograms valued at US$19.2 million, intercepted at Roberts International Airport on June 8—while simultaneously asking those same Liberians to trust an investigation conducted entirely in the shadows.
That is not how justice works. That is not how a nation fighting for its survival against a drug epidemic operates. Let us be clear about what is at stake. An estimated 13% of Liberia’s population abuses illicit drugs. Twenty percent of our youth suffer from substance addiction—rates that dwarf global averages, born from post-conflict trauma and crushing unemployment.
President Boakai declared the drug crisis a national emergency in January 2024. A five-year National Anti-Drug Action Plan was launched just last year.
And now, when the LDEA finally intercepts a shipment worthy of that emergency declaration, the agency responds with silence, secrecy, and legalistic justifications that insult the intelligence of every Liberian citizen.
The LDEA’s official response on June 13 argued that “premature disclosure” could tip off suspects, destroy evidence, compromise international cooperation, and place investigators at risk. These are not unreasonable considerations—in theory. But they collapse under the weight of the agency’s own established practices.
As exiled activist Martin K. N. Kollie meticulously documented in his open letter, the LDEA has consistently—consistently—disclosed the identities of suspects in case after case. An elderly man was arrested recently. His name and video were published. Between January 1 and March 31 of this year alone, the LDEA arrested 233 suspects and disclosed every single name, uploaded every single photo, and forwarded each case to court. Every single time.
So why not now? Why not for the biggest case in Liberian history? The agency has already named Emmanuel Zeon as the individual who delivered the cocaine shipment to the airport. If disclosure jeopardizes investigations, why was that name released? The inconsistency is not merely suspicious—it is damning.
Senator Abraham D. Dillon put it plainly: “Where in the world have we seen the names of ‘Persons of Interest’ being withheld?” The answer is nowhere that transparency and the rule of law prevail. The STAND coalition has issued a 72-hour ultimatum. The House of Representatives has summoned LDEA leadership to appear. The public is filling the information vacuum with rumors, accusations, and names that will be “tainted for life,” as lawyer Moriah Yeakula warned, if they are innocent.
The LDEA says no individual “regardless of position, status, influence, affiliation, or institutional connection will be shielded from investigation.” Those are fine words. But fine words have never stopped a single cocaine shipment.
Liberia is not asking the LDEA to compromise a prosecution. We are asking the agency to respect the public’s right to know who has been arrested, what nationalities they hold, and why this case—unlike the 233 before it—requires darkness instead of daylight.
The Senate should not have to compel this information. The House should not have to demand it. The LDEA should release the names by the time this editorial reaches its readers. Every hour of silence erodes public trust. Every withheld name fuels the suspicion that someone powerful is being protected.
Nineteen million dollars’ worth of cocaine does not walk through Roberts International Airport without friends in high places. The question is whether Liberia’s drug enforcement agency dares to name them. We are waiting!
