The Liberia National Police (LNP) confiscated a huge consignment of illegal arms and ammunitions stored in a container at the Freeport of Monrovia.
The Police through its Inspector General, Patrick Sudue, stated that the consignment of arms and ammunitions were discovered late Wednesday evening, January 4, 2023 after receiving a tip-off about the shipment of the illegal weapons.
However, the discovery of the weapons followed days after the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Liberia (ALF) Maj. Gen. Prince C. Johnson revealed that he had in recent time received text messages from unknown individuals about plans to overthrow the President while he was out of the country.
The Army’s Chief of Staff at the same time also warned that the AFL under his watch will exercise their constitutional power to ensure the safety of the states and its citizenry if the LNP is overwhelmed by any form of violence from the citizens.
Addressing a news conference yesterday at his LNP headquarters in Monrovia, IG Sudue noted that some of the rifles discovered are mounted with long-range lensed glasses to include: M203 launcher gadgets, American-made M16, and AK47 among others.
According to him, intense security investigation is underway following the discovery of over 450 assorted rifles and ammunitions by the Police.
He, at the same, linked the shipment of the illegal fire arms to a Liberian based in America only identified as Benjamin, thereby disclosing that the LNP will work with the US government to ensure that the perpetrator is prosecuted in the U.S.
According to him, search of the container carrying the consignment of the illegal weapons has been halted and sealed up by Police on grounds that they do not want any speculations on such sensitive issue.
He maintained, “We did stop the process because the police already have control of the container and I assure you that the police will in the coming days complete the searching of the entire container.”
Meanwhile, IG Sudue has also further disclosed a lady identified as Braba Debah residing on the Old Road who is said to be in contact with the shipper of the illegal weapons has been arrested and is now in Police custody.
He stated further, “And this woman in question, based on our investigation is in contact with the individual who sent these illegal weapons to the country, and we managed to apprehend her along with one Melina Palm.”
“And from our investigation also, we were led to the Brewervillle community precisely to the guy who is shipping these weapons home and was also able to discover more weapons during our search,” IG Sudue intimated.
“And the Police also managed to arrest one Ezekiel who was hiding in the rooftop of a house during out search process and we have in our possession all of the confiscated weapons as we continue our search and investigations,” he added.
IG Sudue at the same time also called on the general public not to panic about the situation as the LNP has put the matter under total control, and thereby thanked the U.S. government and other security apparatus for the level of cooperation during the process.
Meanwhile, the Police has also disclosed plans to embark on a rigorous search of all vehicles plying the streets of Liberia in line with its ongoing investigation ahead of the 2023 crucial Presidential and Legislative Elections.
