MONROVIA – The Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) has formally charged 39-year-old Liberian national Quita Dolo Kosso with multiple drug-related offenses after she was arrested at Roberts International Airport (RIA) on July 12, 2025, for trafficking cocaine into the country.
Kosso arrived on Kenya Airways Flight KQ887 from Bangkok, Thailand, via Nairobi, and was apprehended around 6:00 PM after LDEA officers detected suspicious behavior and conducted a secondary search. The officers uncovered ten compressed plates of a white powdery substance concealed in her luggage. Laboratory testing later confirmed the substance as cocaine, weighing 3.355 kilograms with a street value of approximately US$181,008, or L$36 million.
Following her arrest, Kosso was taken into custody by the LDEA. During initial investigations, she reportedly fell ill. Her lawyers, Cllr. Lafayette Gould and Julius R. Addy, filed a formal request for medical attention, which was granted. She was subsequently treated at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia, and her medical records have been submitted to the LDEA.
On Monday, July 21, the agency charged and forwarded Kosso to the RIA Magisterial Court under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act of Liberia. She faces multiple non-bailable offenses including trafficking and importation (Section 14.83), sale and distribution (Section 14.85), possession (Section 14.89), and criminal conspiracy (Section 10.2).
In her statement to investigators, Kosso claimed she had been tricked into acting as a drug mule. She alleged that a Nigerian friend, identified only as Henry Iki, asked her to collect a suitcase from an associate in Thailand and deliver it to Monrovia. Kosso said she was told the suitcase contained only clothes and that it was intended for delivery to a man known as “Obi.”
The case further escalated when, at around 1:30 AM after her arrest, a Nigerian national identified as Tony Obi, believed to be Henry Iki’s brother, was apprehended for allegedly attempting to bribe LDEA officers at the airport to release Kosso and the confiscated suitcase. Obi, 38, was immediately arrested and remains in custody.
According to the LDEA, this case exemplifies how organized trafficking networks continue to exploit Liberia as a transit point for illicit narcotics. In a statement issued July 17, the agency emphasized that drug trafficking poses a serious threat to national security and reiterated its zero-tolerance policy.
“These arrests show the sophistication of transnational drug rings targeting Liberia,” the LDEA said. “Let this be a strong message that the full weight of the law will be applied to all traffickers.”
The LDEA has urged the public to cooperate with authorities and report any drug-related activity to its hotline at 0777-133-333.
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