By Johnson Watson MONROVIA, Liberia – August 11, 2026
President Joseph Nyuma Boakai’s decision to indefinitely suspend LDEA Officer-in-Charge Fitzgerald Biago and nominate retired Major General Daniel Ziankahn as new Director General was meant to send a signal: the war on drugs is now a national security priority.
But for many Liberians watching the $317 million Duazon and $19 million RIA cocaine seizures, the move feels familiar. Big seizure. Suspensions. New boss. Then silence.
“The government is supposed to know the source,” said one Monrovia resident. “Right now it just feels like meandering until the case vanishes like night smoke.”
That sentiment is growing.
Why The Doubt Is Real
The scale alone makes secrecy hard to believe. Police escorts. Airport staff. A warehouse in Duazon. Two separate multi-million dollar shipments in one month.
If investigators could identify and charge low and mid-level officers in weeks, the logic goes, then the financiers, the importers, and the source countries can also be identified — if there is political will.
Liberia has been here before. Diamonds. Timber. Drugs. The pattern is: announce an investigation, reshuffle leadership, then let public attention die.
“The tools exist,” analysts note. “NSA, FIU, Customs, Immigration all track money, containers, and calls. What’s missing is transparency.”
What The Government Has Done So Far
On August 10, the Executive Mansion announced Biago’s suspension pending investigation, and Ziankahn’s nomination subject to Senate confirmation. The Justice Minister was given 48 hours to submit findings.
Earlier in July, Boakai dismissed senior officials at RIA, LNP, and NSA, and indicted police officers accused of escorting narcotics.
It is the most aggressive response to drugs in years. But the full investigative report has not been made public. It remains unclear if Biago faces criminal or just administrative charges.
The Citizen’s 4-Question Challenge To Government
As the Senate prepares to vet Ziankahn, citizens and civil society groups are asking Boakai to go beyond reshuffles. They want answers, not just actions.
Here are 4 questions Liberians say must be answered publicly in the next 30 days:
1. Who financed the shipments? The $336M in cocaine didn’t pay for itself. Who are the Liberian and foreign financiers, and what businesses or properties are linked to them?
2. Where is the Justice Ministry report?
The President ordered a 48-hour investigation. Will the findings be released, even in redacted form, so the public can see the evidence behind the suspensions?
3. Who else in government is being investigated?
Beyond the police escorts and airport staff already charged, are ministers, party officials, or business leaders under probe? Or is this stopping at the middle level?
4. What international partners are involved?
Will DEA, UNODC, and ECOWAS be given full access to co-investigate and co-prosecute, so the case cannot be buried locally?
"Prove Us Wrong"
For now, Ziankahn’s military background signals a shift toward command-and-control at LDEA. That may stop the leaks inside the security sector.
But stopping couriers is not the same as dismantling a syndicate.
“If in 60 days we don’t see financiers in court and the report published, then we will know this is just another night smoke case,” the resident added.
President Boakai says he is committed to accountability. The next month will determine if Liberians believe him — or if this too becomes another file that disappears.
