Monrovia, Feb. 4 -- The Roberts International Airport (RIA), Liberia's gateway to the outside world, became the stage for a dramatic drug bust on February 1, when agents from the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) intercepted a large consignment of heroin worth a staggering US$388,890.

In a country struggling with the steady rise of drug trafficking, this bust was a rare win for authorities in their ongoing battle against the illegal drug trade.

But the story of how a routine arrival turned into a major seizure is one of calculated deception, international networks, and the lengths traffickers will go to smuggle narcotics through Liberia.

At the heart of the operation was Larnah B. Arondo, a 37-year-old Kenyan woman, who had just ...