Liberia: Foreign Ministry Denies Diplomatic Pouch Link to Cocaine Probe
Liberia’s Foreign Ministry has rejected accusations that the country’s diplomatic pouch was used to move narcotics and that the foreign minister signed off on it, calling the claims false and unsupported by any evidence.
The rejection came in a statement issued on Wednesday.
“The Ministry categorically and unequivocally rejects these baseless allegations,” the statement said. “These accusations are entirely false, unsupported by any credible evidence, and appear calculated to undermine public confidence in the Government of Liberia’s coordinated efforts to combat transnational organized crime.”
The ministry said the use of the diplomatic pouch and parcel is strictly regulated under international law, which it said requires the ministry to facilitate duty-free privileges for foreign missions and international organizations operating in Liberia. On that basis, it said, it “strongly rejects any allegation that tends to implicate the use of diplomatic pouch in the current narcotic investigation,” and it dismissed the further claim that the foreign minister authorized or signed off on any pouch connected to illicit activity. Allegations of that kind, the ministry said, risk damaging Liberia’s diplomatic relationships and the trust it shares with international partners.
Acting for the government and pursuant to decisions of the National Security Council, the ministry said, it carried out diplomatic outreach to the United States, the United Kingdom, Morocco, Spain, Serbia, the Netherlands, the European Union and other governments to build the capacity of the joint security forces and speed up the investigation. Those engagements, it said, sought technical expertise, investigative support, intelligence cooperation and specialized training. The statement gives no dates for the outreach and names no partner that has committed anything in response.
The ministry called on media institutions and other stakeholders to release any information that assists the joint security services, while also asking the public to exercise responsibility in spreading information and to refrain from amplifying unfounded allegations against public institutions.
Liberian authorities are pursuing two major narcotics cases: the seizure of 237.6 kilograms of cocaine at Roberts International Airport, valued at about US$19.2 million, and the July 21 raid on a warehouse at Duazon in Margibi County, which Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman put at 3,971 kilograms and about US$317.68 million, the largest in the country’s history.
