Liberian authorities burn $336 million in cocaine as senior police officials are implicated

Liberian law enforcement agents have burned some 4.2 metric tons of cocaine worth about $336 millionByMARK MENGONFIA Associated Press and MARK BANCHEREAU Associated PressMONROVIA, Liberia -- Liberian law enforcement agents burned some 4.2 metric tons of cocaine worth about $336 million on Thursday, days after authorities announced the country’s largest-ever drug seizure and implicated senior police officials in the trafficking operation.Authorities said investigators identified officers who had allegedly helped escort the cocaine after it arrived in Liberia. The police chief of highway patrol and the head of major crimes have been charged, while a deputy police commander at the country’s main airport is also a suspect, Police Inspector General Gregory O.W. Coleman said.Liberian authorities said last week they seized nearly 4 metric tons (8,818 pounds) of cocaine with an estimated “street value” of around $317 million, and detained two foreign nationals while investigating what they described as a sophisticated transnational trafficking network. They called it the biggest drug bust in the country's history.The Justice Ministry said investigators recovered the cocaine during a raid a...