Liberia: State Witness’s Testimony Could Exonerate Defendant in US$100 million Cocaine Case

One of the four defendants indicted in the ongoing US$100 million cocaine smuggling case may be exonerated based on testimony from the prosecution's second witness.

This comes after Moses Meah, the chief investigator at the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) as told jurors at Criminal Court 'C', that Zayzay had minimal involvement in the smuggling operation and had no prior knowledge of it. This information could potentially exonerate Zayzay, according to legal experts.

Zayzay and three others, including a Guinea Bissau national and a Portuguese national, were indicted by the government following an investigative report by a Ministry of Justice (MoJ) special team. The charges against them include money laundering, unlicensed possession of controlled drugs, unlicensed importation of controlled drugs, and criminal conspiracy.

Meah, who was part of the investigative team, testified that the committee charged and recommended prosecution after their investigation. When asked about Zayzay's involvement in the alleged cocaine smuggling, Meah stated that initially, Zayzay had no knowledge of it.

Meah alleged that Zayzay informed the investigation team that a person named Pailer requested him to rent a car for some investors who were coming to Liberia.

"A few days later, Zayzay received a call from Adulai Djibri Djalo, directing him to meet an individual at a Total Gas Station, opposite the National Port Authority, where he met Djalo. Djalo asked Zayzay whether he knew TRH Company. Zayzay did not know, but he agreed to find out the location of the company."

"Zayzay and Djalo went to Sunny Brothers in the Topoe Village Community, where they met Malam Conte negotiating for a container with $200k. The sales manager referred them to TRH, the head office of Sunnit, where Conte left them on a keh-keh. Later, Zayzay received a call from Adulai that he was going on an urgent business in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and he was on his way there," Meah said.

“Zayzay later received a call from Adulai that he was going on an urgent business in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and he was on his way there,” Meah quoted Zayzay.

Zayzay, according to Meah, decided to go along with Adulai to Freetown. When they arrived at the border it was already late and the Bo Waterside border was closed.

While on their way to Freetown, defendant Conte was in constant communication with someone else.

According to Zayzay, the nature of the communication was not going down well with him. It was when he decided to communicate with an unknown person, who informed him that it was a drug related issue.

After hearing that, the person also advised him to remain in Liberia, because he will be needed for questioning.

When they arrived at the Bo Waterside, it was already closed, but Zayzay maneuvered to locate someone, who helped him in the process. The person, Meah said, connected Zayzay to a canoe owner, to cross them into Sierra Leone, since the main border was closed.

“It was at this point, they went to look for the canoe owner, who charged them LD$3,500 each. And, there they were subsequently arrested in Sierra Leone, “Meah claimed