Published: August 10, 2026
MONROVIA – Liberia’s police inspector general and other senior security officials should step aside from the drug trafficking investigation, the chairman of the Senate judiciary committee said, warning that institutions facing questions of their own cannot credibly investigate themselves.
Sen. Augustine S. Chea of Sinoe County, who chairs the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, Claims and Petitions, made the call in a statement posted to his official Facebook page under the title “After Biago, Who’s Next? A Renewed Call for an Impartial and Credible Investigation.”
“Mr. Biago, the LDEA Officer-in-Charge, has been forced to step aside. What about the Police Inspector General and other officials whose institutions or offices may have a direct or indirect connection to the matter?” Chea said.
“The uncomfortable truth is that the credibility of the entire security apparatus is in question,” he said.
The intervention follows the decision of Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency Officer-in-Charge Fitzgerald T.M. Biago to seek temporary recusal from his duties amid allegations surrounding his reported receipt of a vehicle from individuals allegedly linked to drug trafficking.
Chea said voluntary recusal is not an admission of guilt but a safeguard for the investigation’s independence. “Where there are legitimate concerns about conflicts of interest or the credibility of the investigative process, the patriotic thing to do is to step aside and allow an independent and impartial investigation to take its course,” he said.
He went further, accusing authorities of steering public attention away from the security sector and toward the opposition. “Instead of addressing these potential conflicts of interest, there appears to be a diversionary tactic aimed at shifting public attention toward opposition figures and finding convenient scapegoats,” Chea said. “That is not how a credible investigation should proceed. Clean your own house first before pointing fingers at others.”
Chea also asked what has become of people the trafficking network itself is said to have named. “There is also a fundamental question that demands an answer: What has happened to the individuals identified by the cartel as having ties to, or allegedly serving as facilitators for, the network in the country?” he said.
He said the demands should not be read as opposition politics. “The growing calls for an impartial investigation into the drugs saga should not be dismissed as partisan or opposition-driven,” Chea said. “They are patriotic calls for truth, accountability, and transparency.”
The senator drew a line between scrutiny and guilt. “The presumption of innocence is sacred,” he said. “But so is the duty to follow evidence wherever it leads.” A person can be investigated without being presumed guilty, he said, but the principle cannot become a shield.
“What we cannot accept is selective scrutiny, where some are pursued aggressively — even accusing opposition figures — while others are shielded by influence, position, or proximity to power,” he said.
“There must be no sacred cows,” Chea said. “Every credible lead must be pursued without hesitation. Evidence must be preserved. Conflicts of interest must be removed. And all relevant institutions must submit to scrutiny.”
He said an independent process serves officials as much as it serves the public. “The goal is not to protect or punish anyone, but to uncover the truth,” Chea said. “If officials are innocent, they will be vindicated. If wrongdoing exists, it must be exposed. Either way, the country only benefits from truth established through a trusted process.”
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