Liberia: Kwarbo vs. Coleman: The Drug Van Order that Nobody Owns

A statement attributed to detained former Highway Patrol Chief Wadell Kwarbo says IG Gregory Coleman ordered him to escort the drug van. His family denies he made it, and the IG calls it part of a four-month disinformation campaign.

MONROVIA — A few days ago, Wadell Kwarbo’s father appeared on Spoon FM with an account of what his detained son had allegedly told him before he was taken into custody.

By Rodney D. Sieh

According to the father, a senior officer had called Kwarbo and instructed him to escort a shipment of drugs. At the time, he did not publicly identify the officer.

This week, however, a name emerged.

A statement attributed to Kwarbo, the former chief of the Liberia National Police Highway Patrol Division who remains detained at the Monrovia Central Prison, identified Police Inspector General Gregory O. W. Coleman as the officer who allegedly made the call.

“Police IG Gregory Coleman ordered me to escort the van. He instructed me to escort the drugs with my patrol vehicle (RL-141). And I acted on his order,” Kwarbo was quoted as saying on Spoon FM.

The statement reportedly went further, calling for his telephone records and written statement to be made available.

“Let them get my call log. My call log can be subpoenaed through the Court,” he was quoted as saying. “Let them release my written statement also. Why are they keeping it? They have it.”

But there is now a direct contradiction over whether Kwarbo actually made those statements.

Family: “He Never Made Such A Statement”

On Thursday, Kwarbo’s wife, Bendu Kwarbo, issued a statement on behalf of the family distancing her husband from the allegations against Coleman.

The family said it “categorically dissociates” Kwarbo from reports attributing the allegations to him and said neither the family nor his lawyers knew about or authorized any statement accusing the police chief.

“Mr. Kwarbo himself firmly rejects and denies this allegation in its entirety and maintains that he has made no such statement,” the family said.

The family said Kwarbo’s lawyers had advised him to remain silent and allow the court process to determine the case.

It described the statement circulating in his name as “malicious” and urged media organizations and the public to verify information before publishing or repeating allegations.

The family also maintains that Kwarbo should not have been arrested and that the case against him is based on what it described as false and misleading allegations.

Coleman: “Sustained Disinformation Campaign”

Coleman, meanwhile, has rejected the allegation and characterized it as part of what he says has been a prolonged campaign to undermine his credibility.

“For the past four months, I have been the target of a sustained disinformation campaign intended to damage my character and silence my fight against the culture of impunity, including the ongoing drug investigation,” Coleman said.

The police chief said freedom of expression must be respected but warned against spreading what he described as false information concerning an active criminal investigation.

“The facts must be established through evidence and lawful process. Anyone found to have broken the law must be held accountable under that same process,” Coleman said. “I will remain focused on my duty. I will not be intimidated.”

The US$ 317 Million Drug Case

The dispute comes against the backdrop of Liberia’s largest cocaine trafficking investigation, involving a shipment authorities have valued at approximately US$317 million.

Kwarbo, a former Highway Patrol chief, was stripped of his duties and later arrested and charged alongside Anthony T. Blaye, who served as Chief of the Liberia National Police Financial Crime Division.

The two have been accused of using marked police vehicles to escort a large cocaine shipment.

According to findings attributed to a joint Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency and Liberia National Police investigation, the cocaine was transported from a coastal landing site to a stash house using two police vehicles in an escort formation, with one vehicle reportedly positioned ahead of the shipment and another behind it.

Coleman said investigators uncovered evidence indicating that state security personnel played a role in moving the narcotics from the landing site to a holding location.

The foreign nationals, a Serbian and a Colombian, are being accused of bringing the cocaine into Liberia through aircraft and shoreline landing operations.

Liberian authorities publicly destroyed the seized cocaine on July 30 in what officials described as the country’s largest-ever drug destruction exercise.

Kwarbo’s Bail Fight

Kwarbo has denied wrongdoing and, in August, filed a motion seeking bail before Criminal Assizes “C” at the Temple of Justice.

His lawyers, including Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus, maintain that he is being detained largely on allegations that he provided an escort to principal defendants after the alleged crimes had already been committed.

Kwarbo’s lawyers argue that the prosecution has not presented objective evidence placing him at the scene before or during the commission of the alleged offenses.

The defense has also challenged allegations attributed to co-defendant Christian Nyantee, arguing that Nyantee may have a motive to shift responsibility and that uncorroborated accomplice testimony should not be sufficient to establish the legal standard required for continued detention.

Kwarbo’s lawyers further contend that he had no prior knowledge of the alleged drug operation and that providing security escorts can form part of routine security duties during major national-security operations.

The Questions That Remain

The latest dispute leaves several questions unanswered.

It remains unclear who spoke to Spoon FM on Kwarbo’s behalf, whether the statement attributed to him was actually made by him, and how the statement emerged from the prison.

It is also unclear whether the written statement Kwarbo was quoted as referring to exists, what it contains, and whether investigators have sought or obtained his telephone records through the court.

Analysts say those questions may be resolved through evidence presented in court rather than competing accounts outside the courtroom.

For now, the public has two sharply different versions: one attributed to Kwarbo naming Coleman as the officer who allegedly ordered the escort, and another from Kwarbo’s family saying he never made the statement.

Kwarbo remains in detention and, under Liberia’s Constitution, is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction.