A 12-member jury at the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Margibi County has found two senior officers of the Liberian Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) and a Nigerian national guilty in a drug trafficking case involving US$181,008 and more than LD$63.2 million.
The convicted defendants are Joe Logan, a senior LDEA officer assigned to Roberts International Airport; Lovette Flowers, a senior female LDEA officer; and Tony Obi, a Nigerian national.
The verdict followed about two hours of closing arguments from prosecutors and defense lawyers after a month-long trial.
Prosecutors told the jury that four witnesses testified against the defendants and linked them to the alleged drug trafficking operation. The state also said two other defendants, Quita Dolo Kosso and LDEA officer Abdullah Sherrif, admitted their involvement and were previously sentenced to five years and two years in prison, respectively.
According to the prosecution, 14 plates of cocaine were seized from the drug network, with Logan and Flowers allegedly taking four plates and later selling them on the black market.
Prosecutors further alleged that LDEA officers received US$10,000 from members of the drug network as a bribe to undermine efforts to combat drug trafficking.
“The last people ever to be involved in drug crime are LDEA officers because they were trained to detect and fight drug crime,” prosecutors argued, urging the jury to convict the defendants as a warning to other law enforcement officers.
The defense, however, maintained that the state failed to prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt and urged the jury to acquit all three defendants.
Defense lawyers also challenged the prosecution’s account of the amount of cocaine seized, arguing that investigators initially recorded 10 plates rather than 14.
They said the difference created contradictions in the testimonies of prosecution witnesses and should therefore be resolved in favor of the accused.
Court records indicate that the cocaine was intercepted from Quita Kosso in July 2025 after she arrived at Roberts International Airport on a Kenya Airways flight from Thailand.
