Liberia cocaine smugglers escape

Four suspected drug dealers arrested in Liberia on suspicion of trafficking cocaine worth $100 million have vanished immediately after a jury found them innocent in a surprise verdict. The men – Lebanese, Liberian, Guinean and Portuguese – were arrested in a bust last year which involved US and Brazilian intelligence. They were accused of smuggling about 500 kilograms of cocaine in a container of pig’s feet from Latin America. Liberia and its West African neighbours form part of a key drug trafficking route to parties in London and Paris. The presidency reckons the not guilty verdict was a result of jury tampering – not a hard thing to do in a country with a state budget of half a billion dollars.