Washington – Oscar Brown and Paul King may be the ties that bind ongoing investigation into the US$19 million drug bust at the Roberts International Airport last week. When the pair failed to arrive in Monrovia Wednesday on separate flights, eyebrows were raised.
By Rodney D. Sieh, rodney.sieh@frontpageafricaonline.com
Brown, a security intelligence supervisor at the RIA was due to arrive from an aviation seminar in Beijing on an Ethiopian Airlines flight(ET 0933) while King was due to arrive on a Brussels Airlines Flight(SN 241).
Where is Paul King?
Paul and his brother Peter, are co-owners of GLS Mengies, a logistics and trade infrastructure firm, Investigators believe may have handled or observed the narcotics cargo apprehended last week, prior to its arrival at the airport, where it was apprehended. His brother, Peter has reportedly been questioned by investigators but is not considered a Person-of-Interest, at least publicly.
In fact, this week, the Margibi County Court, issued a writ 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.
The 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, under the guise of Maggi cubes 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.
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.
Sources close to the investigation told FrontPageAfrica Thursday that Paul’s absence is concerning. The source says Paul has been questioned as to why he did not return on Wednesday and told investigators that he was undergoing some medical checkup in the US although no timeline on his return has been revealed. Said the source: “We are really encouraging him to come home. He has to come. He says he’s going through medical and is not sure when he will be able to fly but we believe he is buying time.”
Where is Oscar Brown?
Brown’s alleged involvement is even more revealing. FPA had previously reported that the security intelligence supervisor at the RIA was in China attending a Chinese-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.
Like Paul King, Brown was due to arrive on an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Wednesday but did not.
FPA was earlier informed that Brown may have gotten off the plane in Addis but has now learned that he may still be in China.
On Thursday, FrontPageAfrica obtained a communication from the Liberian Embassy in Beijing, seeking information regarding his whereabouts.
FrontPageAfrica has gathered from some participants at the conference, that at the end of the aviation seminar, Brown suddenly vanished from his peers.
FPA had previously reported that Brown, a security intelligence supervisor at the RIA 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.
Brown, FPA has learned, was due to arrive on an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Wednesday. But when ETHIPIAN FLIGHT 0933 touched down at the RIA Wednesday, he was nowhere to be found.
FPA was earlier informed that Brown may have gotten off the plan in Addis but has now learned that he may still be in China.
A communication from the Liberian embassy in Beijing, in possession of FrontPageAfrica reads:
Greetings to all:
It has come to the attention of the embassy in Beijing that a short-term training participant, named Oscar John Brown, occupation: Security Manager, RIA has evaded the program organizers and is currently at large.
If any Liberian residing in China with the consent of Mr. Brown has agreed to host him in China, kindly do us the favor by encouraging him to return before him and you are deported.
Right now, he is highly being sought and would be for his entire illegal stay in China because he is a government officer who the host country/organizer doesn’t weigh lightly.
Therefore, the embassy encourages all its citizens residing in China to cooperate before it becomes extremely late.
Meanwhile, the RIA authorities would be contacted to investigate if he has friends and family who were residents in China before his arrival.
Please directly contact me if you have any information on his whereabouts or wellbeing.
With Sentiments, I remain,
Elchico Fawundu
Counselor
Embassy of Republic of Liberia in China
Extradition Concerns
Since the report, the government has been tightlipped, insisting on a need-to-know basis with the public regarding who the masterminds behind the operation really are – and not just how high; but how deep a role some in the hierarchy of government may be involved.
The massive narcotic shipment was intercepted at Roberts International Airport while allegedly being prepared for export. The street value of the approximately 240 kilograms of cocaine is estimated to be over US$19 million. Because of the nature of the bust, investigators widened the security probe to include several airport security officers and Executive Protection Service (EPS) personnel assigned to the VIP lounge to determine if insiders facilitated the smuggling attempt
While President Joseph Boakai has gone on record to state in a national address Tuesday, that his government would dismantle the cartels and exposed networks operating in and through Liberia, the delay in naming higherups believed to involved is a growing concerns for many.
More importantly, the rising influence of Dutch fugitive Jos Leijdekkers, who is based in Sierra Leone and believed to be one of the masterminds of recent influx of drugs into Liberia.
FrontPageAfrica has also gathered that the US$19 million is part of a large-scale operation authorities are investigating.
Liberia does not currently have an extradition treaty with China, but China does have strict policies that could help facilitate the return of Brown, if necessary.
FrontPageAfrica made multiple attempts Thursday to find out whether the Liberian government would initiate efforts to have Brown expedited to Liberia from China where he is still believed to be hiding. There is currently no extradition agreement between the two countries. However, in the absence of a bilateral treaty, extraditions between the two countries are highly complex and governed entirely by domestic Liberian law. Under Liberian law, any transfer of an accused or convicted individual requires either an ad-hoc arrangement, an established principle of reciprocity, or a specific agreement for that single case.
As the investigation intensifies and public scrutiny grows, it is unclear how government investigators plan to pursue those key persons of interests linked to last week’s drug bust. One source, speaking strictly on condition of anonymity Thursday, said plans are underway to release a full list of persons of interests in the coming hours, or days. Regarding the whereabout of Oscar Brown and Paul King, it remains a mystery how authorities plan to engage both the United States and China to assist in having the pair return to Liberia for questioning.
