Liberia: How a Police Intelligence Chief Almost Compromised Biggest Drug Case With U.S.$10k Bribe

What the report says

FrontPageAfrica, republished by AllAfrica, reported that Liberia National Police intelligence official Johnny Bolar Dean was arrested, dismissed from his post and turned over for investigation on Thursday in Monrovia over allegations that he accepted a US$10,000 bribe connected to a major cocaine case. Dean was identified as Chief of Intelligence of Unit 106 and described as being close to Inspector General Gregory Coleman, who said Dean had admitted receiving the money and was being interdicted pending police standards and possible criminal proceedings.

The alleged bribe involved two drug-trafficking suspects held at Police Headquarters: Johann David Garces Grajales, who reportedly carries Colombian and Spanish passports, and Srdan Seles, a Serbian national. They were arrested after a Joint Investigative Task Force created by President Joseph Boakai raided a stash house in Paynesville, Montserrado County, and seized 3,971 kilograms of cocaine valued at about US$318 million. The report said the operation followed a tip from a cartel member already in custody and came weeks after another cocaine seizure worth about US$19 million at Roberts International Airport.

Coleman told reporters that any officer who undermines the investigation would face the law, saying the integrity of the police and government was at stake. FrontPageAfrica also noted prior controversies involving Dean, including a 2016 suspension linked to allegations against senior officers and a 2025 opposition call for his removal; those earlier claims did not lead to his ouster.

The case matters because Liberia is confronting what officials describe as a widening drug-trafficking problem. The report placed the latest seizure alongside earlier large narcotics cases, including a 2022 cocaine case in which defendants were acquitted and later left the country.