Liberia: Diplomatic Passport Holder Allegedly Trafficking Drugs Commits Suicide At Istanbul Airport

22 November 2022
FrontPageAfrica (Monrovia)
By Lennart Dodoo

Monrovia — FrontPageAfrica has gathered that a holder of a Liberian diplomatic passport has committed suicide at the Istanbul International Airport in Turkey after he was reportedly arrested for drug trafficking.

Mr. Samuel Kwame Arbekah with passport number DP0003054 was 50. According to his passport seen by FrontPageAfrica, he was an Economist at the West African Monetary Agency (WAMA).

The West African Monetary Agency (WAMA) is an autonomous and specialized agency of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The Agency has the objective of promoting the use of national currencies in trade and non-trade transactions within the sub-region bringing about savings in the use of member States' foreign reserves, encouraging and promoting trade and exchange liberalization, among Member States, and enhancing monetary cooperation and consultation among Member States.

Circumstances surrounding how he committed the suicide remain unclear to FrontPageAfrica, but FrontPageAfrica gathered that he was arrested with drugs at the airport and was being held for questioning at the airport when he took his life.

He was rushed to the Arnavutkoy State Hospital in critical condition where he, unfortunately, lost his life.

David Akoi, the Assistant Minister-designate for Public Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could not confirm the information. However, FrontPageAfrica gathered from sources within the Ministry that the deceased was not a Liberian diplomat though he held a Liberian diplomatic passport. FrontPageAfrica has not been able to verify this information.

However, the country has been riddled with a series of scandals involving Liberian diplomatic passports over the past few years.

The recent of such scandal involved Sheik Bassirou Kante who was arrested by the U.S. government for money laundering and wire fraud.

Bassirou who was also arrested in the United States on April 20, 2022, for wire fraud amounting to over US$7 million could not secure a bail bond for his release from prison pending trial due to his strong ties with Vice President Jewel Howard and his possession of a Liberian diplomatic passport, among other reasons.

To date, it remains unclear how he obtained a Liberian diplomatic passport.

Read the original article on FrontPageAfrica.

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