Judge Blamo Dixon has claimed that the Ministry of Justice lost the famous US$100 million cocaine case as a result of weak testimonies and documentary evidence.
In his first remark on the case since the ruling and since the Minister of Justice described the acquittal of the four alleged high-profile drug smugglers as “appalling,” Judge Dixon claimed that the government lost the case because it was unable to prove that the accused was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Of the 48 votes cast by the jurors, the Criminal Court C judge noted that the defendants Malam Conte, Adulai Djalo, Makki Issam, and Oliver Zayzay received 43 votes by the 12-man jury, while the Ministry got five, which he says indicates that the government evidence was not strong enough for conviction.
“After a careful review of the vote cast by the jurors for the crime of unlicensed importation of controlled drugs, the jurors awarded the defendants 12 votes. They also awarded the government zero votes, “Dixon explained the breakdown of the jurors’ votes at a contempt hearing against Frontpage Africa Newspaper, which had claimed earlier in an article that US$500,000 was distributed to influence the jury’s verdict in the case.
“For the crime of unlicensed possession of controlled drugs, the jurors awarded the defendants eleven votes, and the government received one vote.
“As for the crime of money laundering, the jurors awarded the defendants eleven votes and the government one vote,” the judge noted. “ For the crime of criminal conspiracy, the jurors awarded the defendants nine votes and the government three votes.”
Frontpage Africa had on May 19 quoted anonymous sources who claimed that a sum of US$500K was used to influence the jury that acquitted four individuals charged with trafficking US$100 million worth of cocaine.
The court, which is now claiming that the information is “false,” summoned the paper’s Managing Editor Rodney Sieh and News Editor Lennart Dodoo and its staff to show why they should not be held in contempt, and to establish and prove who received and distributed the money.
However, Cllr. T. Negbalee Warner and J. Johnny Momoh — lawyers for Frontpage Africa informed the Court that they do not believe that the publication, which is subject to the contempt proceedings — would be construed as contemptuous.
“To the extent that the publication is constructed or maybe constructed as being contemptuous, the defendants sincerely apologize to your honor, the court, and the Liberian Judiciary as a whole for any negative light the said publication may have caused,” they said.
Dixon however rejected apologies and fined Frontpageafrica US$500 while blaming Cllr. Frank Musah Dean, Minister of Justice, of being the mastermind behind the “misleading information” after losing the case.
“Minister Dean masterminded the lie and provided the rubbish information after the jury verdict. I have several WhatsApp messages on my phone that the minister sent to me,'” Dixon claimed without disclosing the WhatsApp exchange in question.
The Minister of Justice a month ago claimed in a scant rebuke that the Court verdict was shameful and undermined the country’s effort to clamp down on the illegal transit of illicit drugs.
The acquittal, he says lends credence to the widely held international and local perception that the judiciary is inherently compromised, and ignited the debate as to whether the judicial system should continue with the age-old jury-trial process, which has been susceptible to jury tampering.
“There was US$100 million worth of drugs stacked in a container that landed in Monrovia, and the accused were caught red-handed attempting to take ownership of the container holding the illicit drugs by attempting to bribe the businessman housing the container,” the Minister of Justice, Cllr. Frank Musah Dean, said in a release issued on May 20.
“Yet the court, through the empaneled 12-man jury, said such brazen evidence did not warrant a guilty verdict. What more can the joint security and justice ministries do to convince the court that the law was broken,” the minister wondered.
The Ministry of Justice had bet on winning the case to boost the government’s claims of fighting the widespread abuse of drugs in the country, but the loss dealt a blow to that narrative as many questioned the investigation that led to the accused being charged with numerous crimes, including the unlicensed importation of uncontrolled drugs.
Dean, in an apparent fight against the public criticism, condemned the court verdict and added that there is the debate as to whether the judicial system should continue with the age-old jury-trial process, which has been susceptible to jury tampering.
However, his critics never went down well with the judiciary, which responded ferociously — claiming that the Minister of Justice was deflecting blame for its poor investigation and handling of the case — which led to them losing it.
The Spokesperson of the Judiciary, Ambrose Nmah, argued that the Minister’s allegation of jury tampering “was shocking,” as the prosecution at no point raised an issue or concern about the jury selection process.
According to Nmah, the Ministry lost the case as it was unable to prove that the accused were guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, which is their fault and not the judiciary’s.
Dean was later fined US$500 after he and the Minister of Information, Ledgerhood Rennie failed to adhere to a summon from the Supreme Court to show cause why they should not be held in contempt following Dean’s condemnation, which was amplified by Rennie against the judiciary.
The 520-kilogram of cocaine were seized in 2022 among containers that TRH Trading had imported from Brazil. The drugs were estimated to be worth over US$100 million, making it one of the largest drug-related cases in the country’s history.
According to TRH Trading, which is a subsidiary of AJA Group Holdings, the accused allegedly offered to pay US$200,000 for a single container of frozen foods, on which the cocaine was smuggled, which at the time cost less than US$30K
The accused, the consignee said, later doubled their offer to US$400K within less than eight hours, and finally to US$1 million, a situation they claimed raised a red flag, leading them to contact the United States Ambassador, who passed the information to Liberian security officials.
These claims were repeated in court by the government and its key witness, Samuel Nimely, the General Manager of TRH Trading, and formed part of its core argument during the case.
However, the jury found that the case against the men lacked conclusive evidence linking them to the cocaine shipment. If the Court had found the accused guilty, they could have faced a prison sentence of several years up to life imprisonment in accordance with the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act of 2014.
In Liberia, drug trafficking is considered a serious offense, and specific penalties and prison terms vary depending on various factors, such as the type and quantity of drugs involved, the defendant’s criminal history, and the circumstances of the case.
Judge Dixon, weighing on the issues, questioned why the government did not make TRH Trading a part of the case since the company was the one that shipped the container with the cocaine.
“Why was TRH Trading not indicted when they were the company that shipped the cocaine and was the consignee? They even released the container with the cocaine from the Freeport of Monrovia to their compound,” Dixon said as he wondered about the exclusion of TRH Trading as one of the key defendants.
According to Dixon, instead of making TRH Trading one of the defendants, the government arrested the four defendants, particularly Malam Conte, who had gone to the compound of TRH Trading to purchase pig feet containers from there.
