Kamara was implicated almost three years ago as one of the ring leaders in a small cargo plane with over 500kg of cocaine which forcefully landed at Sierra Leone’s International airport. Although arrests were made, Kamara was able to flee the country for an unknown destination until he was reportedly arrested in Liberia. The Sierra Leone Police has earlier placed US$2000 for any information that will lead to his arrest.

The eight have already been transferred to the US where they have been charged among other things for trying to import illegal drugs to US. Before their arrest, the US Department of State alleged that the men attempted to bribe high-level officials in the Liberian Government in order to protect shipments of vast quantities of cocaine, and to use Liberia as a trans-shipment point for further distribution of the cocaine in Africa and Europe.

“ The defendants participated in a series of face-to-face meetings, phone conversations, and telephone calls with the cooperating Liberian officials and the CS in connection with at least three different shipments of cocaine that they were trying to transport through Liberia: (1) a shipment of approximately 4,000 kilograms, which was to be flown from Venezuela to Monrovia, Liberia, and the retail value of which was over $100 million; (2) a shipment of approximately 1,500 kilograms, which was to be flown from Venezuela to Monrovia, Liberia, on an aircraft originating in Panama; and (3) a shipment of approximately 500 kilograms of cocaine, which was to be transported by a ship from Venezuela to a location off the coast of Liberia” the department said.

Conspiracy

It was reported further that the 4,000 kilograms of cocaine which the conspiracy intended to import into Liberia had been supplied and protected by the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (the "FARC"). The FARC is an international terrorist group dedicated to the violent overthrow of the democratically elected Government of Colombia.

"As today's charges show, the Republic of Liberia is officially closed for business to the narcotics trade. We are strongly committed to combating international drug organizations that seek to exploit our country for their own profit. We are proud of our strong partnership with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice, and we look forward to strengthening and deepening this relationship in the years to come," President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Assistant Inspector General in charge of Crime Services in the SLP told Radio Democracy that they are trying to establish contacts with the US authorities. “We have a wide range of possibilities, it is possible that GK might face another trial in Sierra Leone after his trial in US. The offense he was arrested for, the minimum charges is 10 years whiles the maximum is life imprisonment” he said whiles adding that “The US believes he has vital information to reveal.”

West Africa has become a trans-shipment point for South American drug traffickers. Agents for these traffickers often bribe authorities in the region to facilitate the passage of their products to their onward European and the US market. The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) says drug trafficking poses a serious threat to West Africa’s security.