Published: July 13, 2026
MONROVIA — Opposition leader Alexander B. Cummings on Monday demanded that international investigators be brought in to preserve and audit Liberia’s inquiry into a $19.2 million cocaine seizure, accusing the Boakai government of running a secretive and compromised probe that has spared the powerful figures he says enabled the trafficking.
Speaking at a press conference in Monrovia, the Alternative National Congress political leader said the government’s handling of the June 8 interception at Roberts International Airport had produced confusion rather than clarity, more than a month after authorities promised a swift and independent investigation.
“The Unity Party-led government promised the Liberian people a swift, transparent, uncompromising, and independent investigation,” Cummings said. “Yet, what we have seen is quite the opposite. The investigation has been secretive, slow, and seemingly compromised.”
Security officials intercepted about 237.6 kilograms of cocaine, packed in 198 compressed plates, in a six-box consignment presented for export through the airport. The Joint National Security Investigative Task Force set up by President Joseph Boakai has since charged Global Logistics Services manager Paul J. King and several co-defendants, and charged fugitive suspect Michael U.S. Browne in absentia.
Cummings argued that the charges brought so far have reached only low-level handlers while ignoring what he called the big hands in government. He questioned how such a large quantity of cocaine could move through the country without the knowledge of powerful officials, asking whether Liberians were meant to believe the drugs had been manufactured at home.
“This raises disturbing questions about collusion between state security personnel and the big hands within or close to the corridors of power,” he said. “This is unacceptable.”
He pointed to the case of Browne, known as US Marshall, a previously jailed trafficking suspect who authorities say slipped out of detention and vanished. Cummings said the government claims to have charged five suspects yet admits it cannot account for nearly all of them, and he noted that the only person brought before a court was one who voluntarily surrendered.
Cummings said he would lead an effort to enlist the international community to investigate, preserve, and audit the process surrounding the seizure, arguing that the government lacks the will and the capacity to deliver justice.
“I will be leading the charge to encourage my friends in the international community to investigate, preserve, and audit the process surrounding the June 8, 2026, $19.2 million drug bust,” he said.
He urged the Mano River Union and the Economic Community of West African States to invoke early warning mechanisms to ensure that everyone involved is apprehended, warning that the scale of the operation pointed to transnational networks capable of laundering money through trade, real estate, and construction.
Cummings framed the trafficking as a direct threat to national security and to Liberia’s young people. He cited Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency findings that more than 866 drug dens, commonly called ghettos, operate in and around Monrovia, and said the epidemic had spread into rural communities.
“Our children are sleeping in cemeteries,” he said. “Families across Liberia are suffering.”
He recalled that Boakai had declared the fight against drugs a national emergency, but said the problem had worsened in the nearly two years since. He accused the LDEA of parading and photographing small offenders, including women taken from their homes, while moving quietly on the larger bust, and said the selective justice must end.
Government officials have maintained that the investigation is progressing and that naming an individual as a person of interest does not amount to a determination of guilt. Inspector General of Police Gregory Coleman told senators the task force had made significant progress and that charges against additional suspects were near.
Cummings closed with a call for Liberians to mobilize lawfully and within the constitution to demand a transparent investigation backed by international technical support, insisting that everyone connected to the case be scrutinized regardless of rank.
“The strength of our democracy is measured by our courage to confront wrongdoing, protect the public interest, and uphold the rule of law,” he said.
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