Monrovia – The Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) 2018 statistics for the month of June 2018 reveal that Nigerians top the list of drug traffickers in Liberia.
Report by Kennedy L. Yangian, [email protected]
Out of the 13 names listed in the report, three are Liberians while the remaining 10 are Nigerians. They were arrested with heroin and cocaine at different locations in the country.
The heroin confiscated from the Nigerians, the report disclosed is up to 274g worth L$1,218,000.00, US$8, 650.00; while the cocaine 126g LD$840,000.00 US$6,000.00
DEA Deputy Director of Operations said all of the drugs trafficked in the country are intended for commercial purposes.
Marcus Soko said in order to fight drug traffickers in Liberia, there need to be stronger drug laws where people involved in drug trade will no longer go to court and come out free.
“At the moment we have passed on the current drug laws in the country over to our lawmakers and they are studying it for their input in the shortest possible time,” he said.
Soko also complained of the limited manpower in the workforce of the DEA and put the numerical strength of the force at 432 officers. According to him, there’s the need to beef up their strength to 1,000 officers to cover all 15 counties.
He further disclosed that the DEA would shortly embark on the construction of five depots in various parts of Monrovia to deal with the issue of drug trafficking and abuse.
Clara Town, Duala, New Kru Town, Logan Town and White Plains would be considered for these depots.
He also called on the cooperation of communities in the fight against drug trafficking.
Soko had advised the public to cooperate with the DEA by providing any necessary information through its hotline, which 0778347663, assuring that the identity of any whistleblower would be protected and kept confidential.