MONROVIA: The Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) has apprehended three individuals, a Lebanese and two others, who the agency termed as “persons-of-interest” linked to the US$100 million worth of cocaine busted in Liberia along the Sierra Leone border.
The “Persons-of-interest arrested by the LDEA include Oliver Zayzay, a Liberian; Guinean, Mustapha Baldeh; and Ahmad Makki, a Lebanese national.
According to the LDEA, the three suspects had been on the run since the operation that busted the huge quantity of the cocaine that was shipped among frozen food items to the country.
During the investigation, the LDEA was able to connect suspect Ahmad Makki as being part of a group that was given the responsibility to negotiate with local businesses for the purchase of the drugs upon the consignment’s arrival in Liberia.
The Liberian who is connected with drug trafficking saga, Oliver Zayzay, according to LDEA investigation, booked three rooms at the Royal Grand Hotel for what is now believed to be the three ringleaders behind the shipment.
The Facebook profile of Zayzay lists him as CEO of Sky River Security and VIP Protection Services and Oliver Car Rental Service. He reportedly doubles as a customs broker. The suspected ringleaders, Gustavo Henrique, a Brazilian, and Adulai Djibril, a Portuguese later checked in at Boulevard Palace.
They were, however, not in their hotel rooms at the time the National Security Agency and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency agents went to the hotel.
A Guinea Bissau national, Malam Conte, who earlier arrived in Liberia to ensure that the consignment reaches its final destination was arrested by agents in plain view. The Brazilian suspect is believed to have fled to the Ivory Coast, although it has not been independently confirmed.
Meanwhile, the Director General of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Marcus Zehyou, has disclosed that his entity is ready to make Liberia a drug-free country.
Zehyou made the statement when LDEA burned the cocaine captured in the biggest drug bust in Liberia’s history at the Barclay Training Center on UN Drive in Monrovia.
