Our Reporter | Smart News Liberia
MONROVIA – Liberian writer and political commentator Abdoulaye Dukule has expressed strong support for Executive Protection Service (EPS) Director Sam Gaye following the security chief’s warning that investigators are closing in on state and non-state actors allegedly linked to drug trafficking organizations operating in Liberia.
Dukule, reflecting on his decades-long relationship with Gaye, described the EPS Director as a veteran drug-fighting professional whose experience spans international narcotics investigations and Liberia’s national security sector.
His comments came after Gaye disclosed that the ongoing investigation into Liberia’s cocaine trafficking saga is expanding beyond the recent seizures to individuals allegedly accused of providing protection, sanctuary and facilitation to drug trafficking organizations.
In a statement issued Friday, July 31, following the destruction of more than 4,200 kilograms of cocaine seized in separate operations, Gaye wrote that investigators were “closing in” on state and non-state actors allegedly connected to drug trafficking organizations from 2021 onward.
“The DTOs did not set up shop on our soil without the acquiescence of some significant former state actors,” Gaye wrote, adding, “No sacred cows. Stay tuned.”
Dukule seized on the statement to highlight Gaye’s background, recounting that the two first met in the late 1980s in Silver Spring, Maryland, when Dukule was beginning his teaching career and Gaye was beginning his career with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
According to Dukule, their paths crossed again decades later when former Defense Minister Brownie Samukai invited him to lunch to meet a friend. Dukule said he recognized Gaye from their earlier encounter, although Gaye initially did not remember where they had met.
Dukule said the two had subsequently followed very different professional paths, with Gaye pursuing international drug enforcement while he worked in academia, newsrooms and political circles.
But Dukule emphasized that Gaye’s career had remained closely connected to the fight against narcotics.
He recalled an episode in 1987 when then-U.S. President George H. W. Bush addressed the growing drug epidemic in the United States and displayed crack cocaine seized near the White House.
Dukule identified Gaye as the DEA officer involved in the drug enforcement work surrounding that period.
After retiring from the DEA and returning to Liberia, Gaye later served as Director of the EPS during the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Dukule said that when President Joseph Nyuma Boakai appointed Gaye to return to the leadership of the EPS, he questioned why Gaye had not instead been appointed to the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), given the administration’s stated focus on combating drugs.
Dukule said Gaye’s current position places him close to the unfolding investigation.
“Well, connecting the dots, he was never too far,” Dukule wrote. “And that’s a good thing.”
Gaye’s latest statement comes at a critical moment in Liberia’s intensified drug enforcement campaign following the seizure of approximately 3,971 kilograms of cocaine in Duazon, Margibi County, and another approximately 237.6 kilograms intercepted at Roberts International Airport.
The two seizures brought the combined quantity to approximately 4,208.6 kilograms, with an estimated value exceeding US$336 million.
The massive seizures have prompted an expanded investigation into the alleged trafficking network, including questions about how such quantities of cocaine could enter Liberia and whether individuals within or previously connected to state institutions may have assisted the operations.
The government has already dismissed, suspended or ordered investigations into several security officials amid the unfolding cocaine saga.
Gaye’s latest warning appears to indicate that investigators are now looking beyond those already subjected to administrative action.
His reference to state and non-state actors allegedly providing “sanctuary” and protection to drug trafficking organizations from 2021 onward also suggests that investigators could be examining activities predating the recent cocaine seizures.
However, Gaye did not identify the individuals or former state actors allegedly involved, and the claims remain subject to investigation.
Dukule’s comments effectively place Gaye’s professional history at the center of the developing investigation, portraying the EPS Director as someone with longstanding experience in international drug enforcement and knowledge of the methods used by trafficking organizations.
The statement has also intensified expectations that the ongoing investigation could eventually reveal individuals beyond the immediate suspects already known to the public.
For the Boakai administration, the challenge now is to ensure that the investigation is conducted independently, transparently and in accordance with due process.
The public will be watching closely to determine whether Gaye’s declaration that there will be “no sacred cows” translates into concrete investigations, arrests and prosecutions where evidence supports criminal charges.
For Dukule, Gaye’s experience makes him a significant figure in that effort.
And for Liberia, the promise of “no sacred cows” has created an expectation that the investigation will ultimately follow the evidence wherever it leads.
