Published: August 10, 2026
MONROVIA — Ibrahima Traore, the Spain-based football agent whose photograph appeared in a video demanding the release of seized cocaine, has reserved the right to sue media organizations that continue to link him to Liberia’s drug case, while acknowledging in the same statement that arranging engagements involving Liberia’s Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Real Madrid Foundation had been part of his professional work.
The statement, dated Aug. 6 and issued under Traore’s name denies any role in the trafficking allegations and directly addresses the contradiction The Liberian Investigator reported on July 26 in his account of his ties to President Joseph Boakai’s son.
“I categorically deny any involvement in this matter. I have never participated in, facilitated, financed, or been connected in any way to the criminal activities being alleged,” Traore said. “Any attempt to associate my name with this case is false, misleading, and unsupported by credible evidence.”
Traore said he would defend his reputation in court if necessary.
“I reserve all legal rights available to me against any individual or media organization that knowingly publishes or continues to circulate false, defamatory, or malicious allegations,” he said.
On the central question, Traore did not withdraw his earlier statement that he has no personal relationship with Joseph Nyuma Boakai Jr., known as Jojo.
“Professional coordination should never be confused with a private or personal relationship,” Traore said. “When I stated that I do not maintain a personal relationship or private conversations with Mr. Boakai Jr., I meant exactly that. We do not share a personal friendship outside official or professional engagements.”
He said portraying institutional facilitation as evidence of a secret personal alliance was a deliberate distortion of his words.
The distinction places Traore’s account alongside, rather than against, the signed statement Boakai Jr. issued on July 29. In that document, the president’s son confirmed meeting Traore earlier this year through Habib Sheriff, travelling to the Real Madrid Foundation with the youth and sports minister and Liberia’s ambassador to France, and holding hospitality and food-service business discussions in May.
Traore’s statement does not mention Sheriff, does not mention the May business discussions, and does not address Zoom Network Inc., the Monrovia-registered company connected to him in Liberia. It does not address the demand made in the video, in which masked men sought the release of cocaine and US$2 million they said had been given to Boakai Jr. and Liberian officials.
Traore described himself as an international football agent and sports developer who has lived and worked in Spain for nearly three decades, scouting players across Africa, arranging trials with European clubs and negotiating transfers. He said he was born in Liberia, left as a teenager during the civil conflict, relocated first to Cote d’Ivoire and later to Europe, and has since built business interests in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, Liberia, Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire. He did not name any of those businesses.
Traore said he welcomed a lawful and impartial investigation.
“I have nothing to hide and every interest in ensuring that the truth is established,” he said.
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