-In Cocaine Smuggling Case
KAKATA, Margibi County – The 13th Judicial Circuit Court sentenced Quita Dolo Kosso to five years in prison on Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to smuggling 3.355 kilograms of cocaine through Roberts International Airport in July 2025.
Resident Judge Victoria Worlobah Duncan accepted a plea agreement between state prosecutors and Kosso’s defense team. She questioned Kosso to confirm that her admission was knowing and voluntary before imposing the term.
Kosso, now 40, arrived at the airport aboard Kenya Airways Flight KQ887 from Bangkok, Thailand, at about 6 p.m. on July 12, 2025. Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency officers discovered the cocaine concealed in her luggage during screening and valued the haul at US$181,008.
Kosso fell ill during the initial investigation. Her lawyers, Cllr. Lafayette Gould and Julius R. Addy, requested medical attention on July 16, and the LDEA approved treatment at JFK Medical Center.
The LDEA charged Kosso on July 21, 2025, under four provisions of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act: trafficking and importation (Section 14.83), sales and distribution (Section 14.85), possession (Section 14.89), and criminal conspiracy (Section 10.2). The trafficking charges are non-bailable under Liberian law.
The agency initially filed the case with the RIA Magisterial Court in Harbel, which lacks jurisdiction over felony drug cases. The court then transferred the matter to the circuit court in Kakata.
The case has since expanded beyond the courier. Kosso and co-defendant Abdullah Sheriff pleaded guilty in May. Four other defendants, including LDEA officers, denied the charges and remain on trial. The LDEA separately arrested a Nigerian national, Tony Obi, for allegedly attempting to bribe officers to secure Kosso’s release.
The trial against the remaining defendants broke down once before. Judge Duncan suspended proceedings in June after defense lawyers reported that LDEA officer Myron Swen approached jurors returning from the washroom on June 2 and urged them to convict Special Agent Joe I. Logan and Agent Lovette Flowers, the officers who arrested Kosso. Duncan called the allegations grave and ordered an open-court investigation.
The five-year sentence falls well below the court’s previous penalty in a major trafficking case. In February, the 13th Judicial Circuit sentenced Nigerian national Prince Okeke to 15 years for smuggling more than eight kilograms of raw heroin, valued at nearly US$389,000, through Roberts International Airport. Okeke has appealed to the Supreme Court. Proceedings against the remaining defendants continue in Kakata.
