MONROVIA, LIBERIA — The controversy surrounding Liberia’s multimillion-dollar cocaine investigation has taken another dramatic turn, with Jackson K. Kolako, Deputy Superintendent for Operations at the Monrovia Central Prison, alleging that actions by senior security officials could have created conditions for a mass prison break involving high-profile drug suspects.
Kolako’s account sharply contradicts earlier reporting about his August 1 arrest. FrontPage Africa reported, citing investigators, that Kolako was suspected of allowing his phone to be used by a Colombian drug network to communicate with detained suspects and that investigators were examining alleged financial transactions involving his mobile-money account.
Kolako has now publicly denied the allegations and challenged authorities to produce evidence against him. He claims the confrontation instead began when two individuals identifying themselves as National Security Agency agents sought access to a drug suspect at the prison without following established entry procedures. He alleges that senior corrections officials overrode those procedures and that his subsequent arrest inside the facility risked provoking prison officers and creating an opportunity for inmates to escape.
The Ministry of Justice has responded publicly, disputing aspects of Kolako’s version of events, including his assertion concerning the role of Atty. Siafa Bahn Kemokai in his arrest.
The allegations are particularly significant because questions about security at the Monrovia Central Prison had already emerged during the wider US$19 million cocaine investigation. In July, the Liberian Senate ordered an investigation into the controversial release of drug suspect Michael Brown from the prison. Lawmakers subsequently questioned how Brown allegedly left the facility and fled Liberia.
Meanwhile, suspects in the broader cocaine case remain before the courts. The Monrovia City Court recently found probable cause against GLS Operations Manager Paul J. King and co-defendants in connection with an alleged attempt to export 237.6 kilograms of cocaine valued at approximately US$19.2 million.
With Kolako now alleging a potential jailbreak scenario while authorities have accused him of links to the very drug network whose suspects he helped supervise, the controversy has effectively become one competing narrative against another.
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