Drug case in Margibi raises public concern

The handling of suspects arrested in a drug case by state security in Margibi County raises public concern in the county.

Ramsey N Singbeh Jr in Margibi

Monrovia, Liberia, February 26, 2025—The handling of a drugs case by some members of the Margibi County Police Detachment has raised serious concern and unanswered questions in the public.

The half bag of marijuana case involves a 38-year-old Sierra Leonean woman, Aisha Kamara, and 33 years old Liberian identified by police as Samuel Sannie.

The Crime Services Department of the Police was unable to provide a charge sheet, a statement, or any recorded information.

The head of operations of the police in the county, Brutus Joe Korboi on Monday, February 24, 2025, confirmed the arrest on Saturday, February 22, 2025, during the night and detained Suspects Aisha Kamara and Samuel Sannie before subsequently turning them over to the CSD in the presence of journalists.

He says if he intended to do anything clandestinely, he could do it without people knowing, but he is a professional officer who believes in and respects the law and his ethics.

A copy of Aisha’s statement explains that she received a call from one of her brothers, Jebro, from the village in Sierra Leone to take delivery of his goods. After that, she received a call from an unidentified driver who told her to go to Parker Paint Junction for the goods.

According to Aisha, she got the goods and made her way back to Kakaka, not knowing that it was drugs.

The statement also says that when she got to Kakaka around Lonestar Cell MTN, she asked 33-year-old Samuel to help her take the goods to her house, promising to pay him. Aisha’s explanation notes that while en route with the goods at her house, assisted by Sam, Police arrested them, saying that was when she got to know the goods received were drugs.

She requested the police to allow her call Jebro, which she did, and he responded, promising to call back but after a while, he switched off his phone.

Two conflicting statements came from the CSD office: One says that Brutus Joe Korboi claimed to have had a written statement from Samuel, but he did not give the CSD the statement. Another one says there is no statement from him because the lady’s explanation did implicate him and there was no need for that.

How be it, Brutus maintains that he openly turned everything related to the case to the CSD after he made the arrest.

Henceforth, the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) in Margibi County, to which one of the suspects was turned over, says it is not in the purview of the police to investigate drug cases.

The LDEA also says the suspect released could be used as a state’s witness in court during the adjudication of the matter and that ignorance of the law excuses no man, so Samuel is supposed to be turned over to the LDEA for investigation like in the case of Aisha, because he is the prime suspect caught right-handedly with the drugs (marijuana).

Information shared by a prominent member of the Margibi County Joint Security, T. Ocarleus Subah says two suspects are detained and set to be sent to court.

At the moment, the LDEA says it is still investigating the issue and making efforts to get the guy who was released by the police.

No charge has been made yet, as we are still following up on the half bag of marijuana case in Margibi. Further updates will follow subsequently. Editing by Jonathan Browne