IPNEWS: Speculations remain high in Monrovia over the actual importer of the dangerous substance ‘Methamphetamine’ recently seized at the Roberts International Airport in Liberia.
Earlier reports have linked Chief of Protocol of the Executive Mansion, Nora Finda Bundoo, as the consignee of the drugs, while other report points to the co-consignees as Samuel Freeman, Chief of Security of the Roberts International Airport (RIA) and a young man identified as Stephen Daniels.
The drug bust, which was first reported by Frontpage Africa, claimed that Samuel Freeman, the Director of Security Manager at the Airport, was caught while attempting to transport the boxes through an unauthorized gate.
According to airport authorities, Freeman has since been suspended for time indefinitely pending outcome on ongoing investigation into allegations of involvement in the smuggling of “cargo through an unauthorized gate on the tarmac.”
Airport authorities admitted that the alleged action of Samuel Freeman is in violation of Section 4 of the airport Human Resource manual.
Freeman, who has denied the allegations, claiming that the boxes were consignments for President Weah’s Chief of Protocol, Nora Finda Bundoo.
The declaration by Freeman linking the consignee of the drugs to Nora Finda Bundoo, Chief of protocol to President Weah, sparked controversies in the capital Monrovia with key political figures including the political leader of the Liberia People’s Party (LPP), Cllr. Tiawan Saye Gongloe – calling on the President to immediately dismiss Amb. Bundoo.
Cllr. Gongloe asserted that if President George Weah fails to dismiss the Executive Mansion Chief of Protocol, Ambassador Finda Nora Bundoo for her alleged role in the smuggling of Narcotic Drug into the country, he will prevail on members of the National Legislature to issue an impeachment proceeding against the Liberian leader.
Amb. Finda Bundoo has since distanced herself from the allegation, claiming she has no knowledge of the drugs in question.
Now, sources tell IPNEWS that ongoing investigation being conducted by the joint security of Liberia has revealed that several persons are now being rounded up in connection to the seized methamphetamine drugs at the Roberts International Airport (RIA).
At a press briefing on Friday, September 15, 2023, at the Ministry of Information, the Director of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Marcus Zehyoue, disclosed that following the gathering of information from Kenya Airways, including the name of the transporter and authentic air waybill of the consignment, has shown that authentic consignee of the illicit drug is Stephen Daniels.
Director Zehyoue stated that Stephen Daniels and another security operative identified as Hinneh Kollie, are also undergoing investigation in relations to the drug saga, while lead culprit and Chief of Security of the Roberts International Airport (RIA), Samuel Freeman, has been suspended and turned over for questioning.
The Liberian DEA Boss narrated that the Kenya Airways has also suspended some individuals with link to the importation of the drugs into the country.
“Information linking Chief of Protocol of the Executive Mansion, Nora Finda Bundoo, as the consignee of the drugs, is untrue, Finda Bundoo has absolutely no connection to the importation.” Director Zehyoue told Journalist.
In July 2023, President George Manneh Weah signed into law the Control Drug and Substance Act of 2023, commonly called the Drug Law.
The new law aims to regulate, restrict, control, limit, or eradicate the illegal export and importation as well as the flagrant use, abuse, and proliferation of narcotic substances within the bailiwick of the Republic.
The law, in part, provides penalties for specified offenses such as the unlicensed and unauthorized importation of controlled drugs or substances into the country.
The law, for example, states that “A person commits an offense if he/she purposely or knowingly imports into Liberia “any controlled drugs or substances without a license from the Minister.”
It further added: “The offense of unlicensed importing of controlled drug or substances shall be graded as where the subject matter of the offense is a drug or substances” as prescribed by the Act.
It can be recalled last October, Liberia security authorities, in collaboration with the US international narcotics agency, seized some $US100 million worth of cocaine, the largest seizure of narcotics in the country’s history.
