Liberia: Lack of Translators Delays US$100M Drugs Case
The cocaine shown here was arrested concealed among frozen goods owned by TRH Trading in October of last year.
…. In the absence of translators, the trial cannot easily take place, as it would be a violation of articles 20 and 21 of Liberia's 1986 Constitution.
Judge Blamo Dixon of Criminal Court ‘C’ has been forced to adjourn a US$100 million drug trafficking case after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to secure translators for two of the defendants.
Dixon's decision came after the ministry informed the court of its inability to secure translators for co-defendants Malam Conte, and Makki Admeh Issam.
Conte is a Guinea-Bissau national who is fluent in Arabic while Issam is Portuguese.
They, along with two others are linked to the US$100 million cocaine bust in October 2022, and were subsequently indicted by the Grand Jury of Montserrado County on charges including money laundering, as well as unlicensed possession and importation of controlled drugs, and criminal conspiracy.
However, the trial cannot easily take place in the absence of translators for Conte and Issam. Articles 20 and 21 of the 1986 Constitution provide them "deeply and firmly rooted" rights to have translators in order to alleviate communication barriers in ensuring free and fair trial .
In a letter to the court, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed that their attempt to secure translators for Conte and Issam was unsuccessful due to Portugal and Guinea Bissau not having embassies in Liberia.
The ministry however assured Dixon that they intend to communicate with the US Embassy, to secure the services of translators.
Dixon was then forced to adjourn the case to February 27, as the ministry announced plans to communicate with the US Embassy, to secure the services of translators.
The case stems from the US$100 million cocaine bust on October 1, 2022, in which one Oliver Zayzay, a Liberian national, and some of his foreign associates were arrested after seeking to purchase what appeared to be a shipping container full of fresh frozen pig feet from a refrigerated storage facility in Monrovia.
The defendants had initially offered to pay the owners of the container, AJA Group Holdings, the sum of US$200,000 for the entire container which, at the time, cost less than US$30,000.
But when the defendants, within less than eight hours, doubled their offer to US$400,000 and, finally, to US$1 million, AJA Group said they were certain that Zayzay and his associates were dealing with a serious case of narcotics trafficking.
The company said they contacted the United States Ambassador, a move that brought both the American and Liberian anti-narcotics law enforcement agents into the picture and caught the suspects red-handed.
The US$100 million cocaine bust is believed to be the biggest arrest in terms of street value on the African continent so far.
