Washington – In January 2009, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf honored a hero. A year prior, in 2008, Richard Karyea, a customs officer for the Liberia Revenue Authority assigned at the Roberts International Airport (RIA), had turned down a US$20,000 (thousand dollars) bribe from a Nigerian drug smuggler attempting to bring a massive quantity of cocaine, hidden in a DVD player, into Liberia. Due to his exceptional honesty and integrity, Karyea was named the 2008 Civil Servant of the Year.
Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com
When he was later asked by the BBC how difficult it was to reject a bribe, Karyea replied: “It wasn’t difficult to turn down the money. If it took me 50 years to earn that money, I’d want my conscience. I will always want my conscience.”
Nearly fifteen years later, the narcotics culture Karyea sought to curb still finds itself rapidly growing in a nation still fragile and vulnerable, and exposed to drug traffickers.
When traffickers again attempted to sneak some US$19 million worth of cocaine out of Liberia last week, another hero emerged.
Person-of-Interest ‘Under Suspicion’
This time, the stumbling block was Benjamin Rivercess, the Cargo Security Screener Supervisor assigned at the RIA.
In his June 5, 2026 observation report, obtained by FrontPageAfrica, Rivercess explains that when he took over the afternoon shift as the supervisor in charge, he encountered his security director, who was also waiting on the afternoon shift to do a technical briefing on the warehouse’s operations, especially on Air Brussels operations that required standard security measures.
During the turnover briefing, Rivercess further explained that Officer Ruth Gbapaywhea reported that an image of a consignment screened was not clear and that a further physical search was needed. “So, on the request for physical search, the consignor agreed to comply with the procedure but requested an appeal to have it done on Sunday, June 7, 2026 due to the shortage of security seal that needed to be used for closing the consignment right after the physical search.”
Rivercess further explained that on Sunday morning, Emmanuel T. Zeon, identified as the shipper of the package, appeared in compliance with the adherence of the physical search requested. “At 0928GMT, we all assembled in the export facility for the physical search. During the opening process of the consignment, a white powder material content was discovered.”
Rivercess further explained that a suspicion was created and established for more analysis and investigation.
LDEA Notified, Possible Contraband in boxes
Rivercess wrote: “In technical analysis, the content of the consignment was actually in contradiction with the materials contained in the boxes; thereafter, I contacted the Intelligence Section of the Airport Security Department. After consultations with the Intelligence Supervisor, Mr. Roland G. Taylor Sr, we further consulted with the Airport Security Manager, Mr. Mohammed Gbowrah, and the safety manager, GLS/Menzes, Mr. Philip Yeoh of our suspicion on the consignment. Based on our suspicion, which we could not determine the actual nature of the powder substance seen, we allege that it was contraband and notified the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) Airport Detachment through its commander, Mr. Clarence Clarke. In furtherance with the investigation, the consignments were turned over to the LDEA who will ensure working in collaboration with the Airport Security Department for a better investigative outcome. A total of six boxes of consignment were turned over the LDEA RIA Detachment on Monday June 8, 2026, at about 1115hrs in the presence of LDEA Unit 702 (Patrick Karmozu).”
FrontPageAfrica has now confirmed that Rivercess has emerged as a key witness to identifying who owns the cache of cocaine.
FPA has also learned that after the consignment was identified by Rivercess as being cocaine, those behind it sought to bribe their way out by aborting the planned loading on Brussels airline and having it returned to Monrovia to avoid arrest. Investigators have also confirmed to FPA that Rivercess was reportedly offered a whopping US$20,000: but he refused to accept the money and is now hiding for his life as unknown men keep watching his Dolo’s town house to get hold of him.
No Protection for Whistleblower
Ironically, unlike when Richard Karyea of the LRA was heralded and honored during the Johnson-Sirleaf administration for refusing a bribe at the airport, Rivercess is being left to secure himself. This is no way to encourage honesty in our security system, especially with such a major case. One source noted: “If care is not taken, if Rivercess is not protected, those responsible for the cache may harm or neutralize him as he has no security as of yet.”
Once the boxes were identified as contraband, Roland Taylor, acting assistant manager for intelligence and investigation, sent a communication to Mohammed Gbowrah, Security manager for transportation and safety, detailing his findings from Rivercess.
In that report dated June 5, 2026, Gbowrah detailed what Rivercess had reported.
Henry King, an officer assigned to the Cargo Warehouse as the acting deputy supervisor, reported that during the screening of cargo, the security on the X-Ray monitor screened six (6) boxes, but the images on the screen were very dense. “So, we put them aside for physical search, but the consignor was not present, and the cargo was not to go on the flight that day. Saturday was no SN Brussels flight, so on Sunday morning we conducted the search and discovered some white substances, completely different from what the Air Waybill was reading, and then informed our authority,” King wrote.
Geraldine Zeon, another security Screener, also reported the same. Cargo screening operator Ruth Gbapaywhea also reported that during the screening of SN Brussels cargo, her boss, Mohammed Gbowrah, came to the cargo warehouse to monitor the screening of Bea Mountain valuable cargo screening process and to meet with the cargo supervisor, Benjamin Rivercess, to discuss the process.
While screening, according to Gbapaywhea, six black boxes were screened, and their images appeared dense on the X-Ray monitor.
Gbapaywhea explained that based on the denseness of the image, she requested physical examination on the cargo. “When we requested the presence of the known consignor agent for the physical examination, on one turn out and the cargo was not going on the flight that day, so I informed my team mates, and the supervisor Mr. Benjamin Rivercess that before the six (6) boxes go on the flight, we have to conduct physical search on them. When the known consignor agent finally showed up for the physical examination on Sunday, June 72026, we observed some white powder like substance, there upon it was turned over to the LDEA RIA detachment for further analysis of the powder.”
According to the report in FPA’s possession, Gbowrah also acknowledged that on Friday, June 5, 2026, he had gone to the cargo warehouse at about 1635Hrs and was present during the screening of SN Brussels cargo. More importantly, Gbowrah wanted to make sure that the screeners at cargo were following the standard procedures as corrective actions put in place after the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority) security audit.
While there, Gbowrah observed Officer Gbapaywhea screening six (6) boxes, and all the images appeared very dense; she told her teammate, Officer Geraldine Zeon, that the images on the X-ray monitor were very dense and needed a physical search.
However, when the screeners requested the known shipper of the drugs, Mr. Zeon, was nowhere to be found. Thus, the packages were put aside until Zeon was found.
According to the report, after monitoring the process and before leaving the facility, Rivercess, the cargo security supervisor briefed Gbowrah about the importance of upholding the procedures the audit called for, and told him that officer Gbapaywhea had put six (6) Boxes aside for physical search, and that he should make sure that those six (6) boxes be rescreen in the presence of all parties and a physical search conducted on the cargo.
In the end, Rivercess and his team reported that, due to the nature of the cargo, the security unit decided that before the cargo left the warehouse, it would be rescreened in the presence of all parties involved, and a physical search conducted on the cargo before it could go on the flight.
Oscar Browne Fails to Return, What’s Next?
With so much evidence gathered, the government is yet to make an arrest, although the shipper of the boxes, Mr. Zeon, is said to be in the custody of the National Security Agency and the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency.
Who was Zeon working for? Who were his accomplices, the government and investigators are not saying. However, another key person of interest could offer some clues – if investigators can lay their hands on him.
Oscar Browne, a security intelligence supervisor at the airport, was in China attending a China-sponsored aviation seminar when he called another person-of-interest, Roland Taylor, a senior security trainer, the day of the drug bust, asking Taylor to ensure that the consignment was released to board the flight after Benjamin Rivercess, another person-of-interest, refused to let it go.
Browne, FPA has learned, was due to arrive on an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Wednesday but was not among those who arrived on the flight.
Three other RIA staffers – Nelton Wellueh, Emmanuel Johnson and Emmanuel Russ, who attended the conference in China along with Browne, arrived on the Ethiopian Airlines flight Wednesday.
FPA has learned that the three are not considered persons of interest in the case.
LDEA Expands Cocaine Investigation as Court Summons GLS Mengies
Meanwhile, the ongoing investigation Wednesday entered a new phase after a Margibi County court ordered GLS Mengies, the company responsible for cargo operations at the airport, to surrender key records and surveillance footage that could shed light on the movement of the illicit shipment.
The action follows a petition filed by the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), which is seeking to piece together the chain of events surrounding the discovery of boxes containing substances believed to be cocaine within the airport’s cargo handling system.
According to a Writ of Subpoena Duces Tecum issued by the 13th Judicial Circuit Court for Margibi County, GLS Mengies has been instructed to appear before the court on June 29, 2026, and provide a series of documents and electronic records connected to the ongoing narcotics investigation.
The court order, issued under the authority of Resident Circuit Judge Victoria Worlobah Duncan and signed by Clerk of Court Edward N. Boakai, specifically requires the company to produce shipping waybills, cargo-related documents, and all available CCTV footage linked to activities that occurred on May 22 and between June 5 and June 8, 2026.
Investigators believe the requested materials may prove critical in determining how the suspicious cargo moved through airport facilities before authorities intercepted the shipment. Law enforcement officials are expected to use the records to identify individuals who may have handled the cargo, establish timelines, and verify whether standard cargo processing procedures were followed.
Skepticisms Amid President’s Assurances
Addressing the issue for the first time since it started, President Joseph Boakai instructed investigators to pursue the case on two fronts: identifying and prosecuting those directly involved in the shipment and dismantling the broader criminal enterprise behind the operation. “We are not interested only in intercepting drugs or arresting couriers,” Boakai said. “We are determined to expose and destroy the networks that finance, coordinate, facilitate, and profit from this criminal activity.”
The President stressed that no individual or institution would be protected from scrutiny as the investigation progresses. “This investigation will follow the evidence wherever it leads,” he said. “No person will be untouchable. No institution will be shielded from scrutiny. No criminal network will escape justice.”
Despite the President’s declaration, murmurs and speculations continue to point in the direction of hidden hands in the government circle, spurring doubts in the court of public opinion about the government’s willingness to make the investigation transparent. For now, there appear to be more questions than answers in a case that is growing wider by the day and gaining international scrutiny by the hour. As one Western diplomat put it succinctly Wednesday, “a lot is riding on the government to do the right thing – and avoid throwing Liberia in the mud as a major drug trafficking hub.
