MONROVIA — Weeks before a US$19 million cocaine shipment was intercepted at Roberts International Airport (RIA), Usman Ali — now charged in the case — was socializing in Monrovia, according to multiple witnesses.
By Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com
Ali, a UK-based consignee named in the case, attended a birthday party for Leroy Harris and Michael Browne on May 17, 2026, at the Private Bar in Paynesville, opposite the community school. Harris and Browne are among several people named as suspects in what has become one of Liberia’s largest narcotics investigations.
Several attendees told FPA they recall Ali appeared cheerful but uneasy, and that he seemed to avoid being photographed. Multiple sources said both Browne and Harris were seen near him throughout the evening.
The Seizure
The case stems from a bust on June 7–8, 2026, when the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) intercepted a shipment at RIA. Airport screening flagged suspicious contents in six cargo boxes falsely declared as commercial goods; officials confirmed the boxes contained 237.6 kilograms of cocaine. The shipment was confiscated on June 8, triggering a high-profile national investigation and charges against several principal suspects and business managers.
Ali has been charged in absentia under Chapter 14, Sections 84, 85, 89 and 93 of Liberia’s Amended Controlled Drugs and Substance Act of 2023, and Chapter 10, Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Revised Penal Code — covering unlicensed exportation, transportation and possession of controlled substances, illicit trafficking, criminal conspiracy and criminal solicitation.
Little Known About Ali
Beyond the charge sheet released by the Inspector General of Police days ago, little is publicly known about Ali, other than that he moves between the UK and Sierra Leone, where he is believed to currently be residing.
Sierra Leone is also home to Jos Leijdekkers, a Dutch cocaine trafficker sentenced in absentia to a combined 81 years in prison by Dutch and Belgian courts and considered one of Europe’s most-wanted fugitives. Leijdekkers has evaded international capture in part, reports say, because of a relationship with the daughter of Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio — a situation that has strained diplomatic and law-enforcement relations in the region.
Most Suspects Remain at Large
Six people have been identified as suspects: Paul J. King and his company, Global Logistics Services (GLS); Michael U.S. Browne, alias Rahim/Raheem Bah; Oscar J. Browne; Emmanuel Kpah; and Philip Yeoh Jr. Of these, only King and Yeoh are in custody.
King has pleaded not guilty. On Wednesday, the Monrovia City Court found probable cause against King and six co-defendants, sending the case to trial before Criminal Court “C.” A day earlier, Yeoh was arraigned after investigators alleged he had tried to help secure the release of the six boxes, which prosecutors say were destined for the United Kingdom.
The government has disclosed no update on Ali’s whereabouts or on any extradition efforts. Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman told a July 4 news conference: “All suspects who are in hiding, outside the country, or otherwise evading the process of law are being pursued through every lawful means available to the Republic of Liberia, including arrest warrants, international law enforcement cooperation, extradition requests.”
A member of the joint investigative team, contacted Wednesday, said authorities are “making progress” toward extraditing suspects who have fled.
Bars Under Scrutiny
FPA has learned that entertainment venues such as the Private Bar have become regular meeting points linked to drug activity, raising questions about oversight of such establishments.
Investigators say the scale of the seizure, the concealment method and the shipment’s intended international routing indicate the case is far from an ordinary drug bust. Concerns are mounting that Liberia is emerging as a hub for transnational narcotics trafficking, with its air cargo system serving as a route for drugs moving beyond its borders.
The government has pledged that any public official, security officer, airport employee or corporate actor found to have participated in or obstructed the investigation will face prosecution. But associates of several suspects remain in Monrovia and have yet to be questioned, fueling concern that the investigation could be compromised. Liberia’s border points, meanwhile, remain vulnerable — and many citizens fear the country risks being branded a narco-state.
A Recurring Pattern
This case follows one of Liberia’s largest-ever drug busts, in October 2022, when authorities and U.S. officials seized 520 kilograms of cocaine valued at US$100 million — shipped from Brazil — at the Sonit Liberia Corporation compound in Monrovia. Four men, of Liberian, Guinea-Bissauan, Lebanese and Portuguese nationality, were charged with trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy.
In May 2023, a Monrovia jury acquitted all four. Criminal Court “C” Judge Blamo Dixon dismissed the charges and ordered US$200,000 in seized cash returned to the defendants, who fled the country shortly after their release and have not been located since.
Diplomatic observers say they are watching closely to see how far Liberian authorities are willing to go this time. Together, the two cases cast Liberia as both a key transit point for narcotics moving between Latin America and Europe, and a country facing a deepening domestic drug crisis. Analysts point to porous borders, an extensive coastline, and corruption at logistics hubs such as RIA as factors that make the country attractive to international cartels.
