MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — 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 chief of the highway patrol and the head of the major crimes unit 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.
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Liberian law enforcement agency burn seized cocaine in Caraysburg, Liberia, northeast of Monrovia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
Liberian law enforcement agency officials prepare to burn cocaine consignments in Caraysburg in the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
Liberian law enforcement officials burn seized cocaine in Caraysburg, Liberia, northeast of Monrovia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
Liberian law enforcement agency officials prepare to burn cocaine consignments in Caraysburg in the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
Liberian law enforcement agency officials prepare to burn cocaine consignments in Caraysburg in the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
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 at a property in Duazon, about 28 kilometers (17 miles) from the capital, Monrovia. A Serbian national and a dual Colombian-Spanish national were arrested and were being questioned, it said.
Liberia's police, the drug enforcement agency and other agencies also burned 237 kilograms (522 pounds) of cocaine valued at more than $19 million that was seized in June at Roberts International Airport.
Coleman said the burning was intended to send “a clear message” that Liberia was no longer “a place of comfort” for drug traffickers.
In recent years, West Africa has emerged as a key transit route for cocaine trafficked from South America to Europe, with smugglers taking advantage of porous borders and weak enforcement in parts of the region.
According to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, at least 30% of cocaine destined for Europe now passes through the region, while local cocaine consumption, including of crack cocaine, has also been rising.
Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.
Liberian law enforcement agency burn seized cocaine in Caraysburg, Liberia, northeast of Monrovia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
Liberian law enforcement agency officials prepare to burn cocaine consignments in Caraysburg in the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
Liberian law enforcement officials burn seized cocaine in Caraysburg, Liberia, northeast of Monrovia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
Liberian law enforcement agency officials prepare to burn cocaine consignments in Caraysburg in the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
Liberian law enforcement agency officials prepare to burn cocaine consignments in Caraysburg in the outskirts of Monrovia, Liberia, Thursday, July 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Alexander Wiaplah)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday he may pull acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination for the full-time post to avoid conceding to Senate Republicans' demands over a sweeping tax audit immunity deal benefiting the president and members of his family.
After failed negotiations forced the delay of a committee vote to advance Blanche's nomination, Trump suggested he was holding firm against pressure from Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis. They have expressed concerns about the controversial settlement of Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, which a judge denounced as an exercise in self-dealing.
The senators said the Justice Department seemed interested in reaching an agreement with them, but the White House wouldn't budge to aid the confirmation of Trump's loyal former personal attorney, who has aggressively pursued the administration's priorities as acting attorney general. Instead, Trump said in a social media post that he might pull Blanche's nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office next year.
“I think as far as Blanche and the Department of Justice, we were pretty much on the same page,” Cornyn said Thursday. “But then when the president got wind of it, he wasn’t willing to go along with it.”
Hours after Trump's post, however, Blanche held a meeting with Cornyn and Tillis and the two sides were back to working collaboratively, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations around Blanche’s confirmation.
Cornyn and Tillis have said they won't back Blanche's nomination without additional assurances in writing about the settlement, which included a deal to drop tax claims against the president and a now-scrapped plan to create a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” meant to compensate Trump allies.
With all Democratic senators opposed, just one Republican holdout on the Senate Judiciary Committee could sink Blanche’s chances for confirmation. And even if Blanche makes it through the Senate Judiciary Committee, it’s unclear if he has enough Republican support to be confirmed by the full chamber.
Cornyn wrote in a social media post Thursday that the president is “mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis.”
While the Justice Department dropped plans for the “Anti-Weaponization Fund” after bipartisan outrage about the potential of payouts going to violent Jan. 6 rioters, officials have said that another piece of the settlement — granting Trump and members of his family immunity from tax audits — remains in place.
Though Blanche has repeatedly insisted that the “Anti-Weaponization fund” is dead, skeptical lawmakers have pushed for a commitment in writing — especially since Trump has expressed continued support for the idea. But the senators suggested the White House is resisting putting it in writing.
“The president’s getting bad advice. He should listen to Blanche and others who think if it’s dead, it should be rendered completely dead,” Tillis told reporters about the fund.
Another sticking point was the settlement's audit immunity provision that said the U.S. government is “forever barred and precluded” from scrutinizing or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization’s current and past tax examinations. Cornyn and Tillis have pressed the administration to modify the agreement to make clear that it covers only existing audits and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.
While the majority of Republican senators oppose the settlement, the main pushback to Blanche has come from Cornyn, who lost his seat earlier this year when Trump opposed him in a GOP primary. Trump has also frequently targeted Tillis, who announced last year that he would not run for re-election and has criticized the administration over the pardons of Jan. 6 rioters and other matters.
Though it would be politically embarrassing for the Trump administration, pulling Blanche’s nomination would likely have little practical impact on the management of the Justice Department.
Blanche, who took the reins of the department after Pam Bondi's firing in April, can still lead the agency as either acting attorney general or deputy attorney general, the No. 2 post to which he was confirmed last year. The deputy attorney general, who oversees the day-to-day operations of the law enforcement agency, can perform the duties of the attorney general if that post is vacant.
Associated Press reporter Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this report.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., arrives for a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, July 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, arrives for a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, July 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., arrives for a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, July 30, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
FILE - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is sworn in as he appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
