Buchanan – A 12-year-old boy named Arcady, living in the Sugarcane Farm Community of Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, has become a drug addict at a very young age. Arcady has also become a key transporter and middleman between drug users and dealers in the area, highlighting a deeply concerning issue in the community.

By Mercy Zahn Gbhoe, contributing writer 

Arcady was introduced to this harmful lifestyle by his own mother, known only as Harvest. Since his involvement in the world of drugs, Arcady has primarily been consuming kush and marijuana.

In a candid conversation with reporter, Arcady shared details about his recent interaction with 21-year-old Adam Chea, who tragically passed away after allegedly using kush. This incident underscores the dangerous and potentially fatal consequences of drug abuse, especially among young people.

The prevalence of illicit drug use among teenagers is a growing concern in the community. Shockingly, statistics indicate that teens as young as 12 to 14 years old are experimenting with drugs and becoming involved in harmful practices.

Arcady’s story is a clear example of how easily young people can be influenced and led astray by those around them, including family members. It is crucial for parents and guardians to be vigilant and provide proper guidance to prevent such tragic outcomes.

The tragic death of Adam Chea serves as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of drugs on individuals and communities. It is a wake-up call for authorities and organizations to act against the illicit drug trade and protect vulnerable young people from falling prey to addiction.

Efforts must be made to provide education and support for at-risk youth like Arcady, who may be struggling with substance abuse issues. Early intervention and rehabilitation programs can help steer them away from a destructive path and towards a healthier, more positive future.

The community must come together to address the root causes of drug addiction and provide resources for individuals like Arcady to break free from the cycle of substance abuse. By working together, we can create a safer and healthier environment for all residents of Grand Bassa County.

Arcady’s story serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for prevention and intervention strategies to combat drug addiction in our communities. We must prioritize the well-being of our youth and ensure they have access to the support and guidance they need to make positive choices and lead fulfilling lives.

Paynesville City – Turtle Base in Red-Light, Paynesville was infamously known for being the safe haven for small scale drug pushers and addicts.

Report by Mae Azango maeazango@frontpageafricaonline.com

It also served as a home for some of the known notorious armed robbers, but it is no more – demolished by the police in a raid.

“I was abducted by the rebel forces and introduced to drugs and was forced to take arm and fight.

Some of my other friends can do other trade they learned: like — driving, carpentry and masonry, but as for me, I did not learn any other trade but to fire gun.

If firing gun was a trade, they would not have disarmed us, so it is not a trade.”  – Emmanuel, Drug Addict.

Bringing down the base, though has brought some sense of security to residents of the area, has not in any way put an end to the illicit activities carried out by its former inhabitants.

Most of them have moved into several ghettos in Paynesville and Monrovia, where marijuana, coco, Indian white and other forms of drugs are easily found.

Emmanuel K. Benson is a former child soldier; he has been on the streets for 18 years. He has no vocational skills.

According to him, the only thing he knows best is to fire a gun and operate any weapon. He is just one of hundreds of children forced into fighting during the country’s civil upheavals which lasted for 14 years.

“I was abducted by many of the rebel forces and introduced to drugs and was forced to take arm and fight.

Some of my other friends can do other trade they learned like — driving, carpentry and masonry, but as for me, I did not learn any other trade but to fire gun. If firing gun was a trade, they would not have disarmed us, so it is not a trade,” he said.

Emmanuel once lived in Turtle Base. The place got its name from the attitude of the female turtle which hatches its eggs and goes its way – leaving the young ones at the mercy of nature and circumstances.

Emmanuel now lives in a ghetto community (Gblabah) behind the old Ministry of Defense on Benson Street in Monrovia.

The building was owned by for Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Green Freeman.

Emmanuel had just returned from helping cab drivers to find passengers in the bustling streets of Monrovia.

In his dingy gray T-shirt, Emmanuel sweats profusely. It drips down his face as if he had had just completed a marathon.

“I am sweating like this because since I woke up, I have not taken in my regular load yet. I will continue to sweat and feel bad until I take in my ‘bee’ [substance] to make me zekko [zeal], and feel on top of the world.

I take Italian White and coco to make me feel fine. Italian White is sold at LD$290.00 [US$2.90] and Coco, (A brown substance) is sold at LD$275.00, [US$2.75],” he said.

Emmanuel is not alone in such habit, but he is among 50,000 youth in Montesrrado County that are hooked unto narcotics and cannot help themselves, according to Eugene David, Executive Director for Liberians against Drug Abuse.

Speaking to FrontPageAfrica, Davies said, “According to our previous data we did in 2013, we had around 50,000 young people on drugs in Montserrado County alone.

We also found out that not everyone doing drugs in the ghettos is living on the streets, but there are other youngsters who are still living with their parents because their parents have some control to keep them at home.

They usually go into the ghettos and get their refill and go back home and sleep.”

Emmanuel has two children but does not know how they get their day-to-day meal and other basic necessities. He said his relatives do not allow him around the children – they see him as a bad person.

He has expressed the desire to start a new life and called for the intervention of the government for rehabilitation.

“We do not benefit from any government program, but when we were on Turtle Base over 60 NGOs or more used to go there and cook big pot of food for us, but we did not see what they were doing for us,” he asserted.

Emmanuel, like many drug addicts, who were previously interviewed while on Turtle Base, boasted of the area like one would do of a million dollar recreation center.

“I am the bone of Turtle Base,” Emmanuel intimated gleefully.

“I was among the first people who founded Turtle Base and we were the first to establish that place called Turtle Base to be what it is today.”

“Even though we have lost over 30 or more of our friends, but we are still around to protect the ground.”

According to National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction is a brain disease that affects multiple brain circuits, including those involved in reward and motivation, learning and memory, and inhibitory control over behavior.

Because addiction is typically a chronic disease, people cannot simply stop using drugs for a few days and be cured. Most patients require long-term or repeated episodes of care to achieve the ultimate goal of sustained abstinence and recovery of their lives. 

On the other hand Catherine Mills, the only Rehabilitation Hospital, located on Rehab Road in Paynesville was destroyed during the civil war in 1990, leaving the likes of Emmanuel of no hope of getting medical rehabilitation to his addiction. 

While Emmanuel is just an individual, there are thousands of traumatized youth in various communities engaged in all sorts of social vices that are craving rehabilitation.

Alas, they do not know where to turn.

Monrovia – Liberia’s Peace Ambassador, Rev. William R. Tolbert, III has emphasized the need for some psychosocial therapists to be brought into the country to help alleviate the high rate of violence, mainly among the youthful population.

Report by Willie N. Tokpah – willie.tokpah@frontpageafricaonline.com

Rev. Tolbert made specific reference to the participation of motorcyclists in violent activities in the country.

He attributed such attitude to the intake of narcotic substances.

In a conversation with FrontPageAfrica in Monrovia on Wednesday, Tolbert said bringing in psychosocial therapist s would help identify series of problems faced by most youths involved with violence, thus finding solutions to these problems.

His suggestion follows his previous comment that the attitudes of some youths seem abnormal and must not be overlooked.

“The behaviors of some of these youth, especially those who are riding pen-pen are not normal and shows that they are either under the influence of alcohol, drugs or some harmful substance which often leads to violence,” Tolbert noted.

According to him, it was important that opportunities be provided for youth as a way of addressing some of the economic difficulties that sometimes force them into unwholesome activities such as drug abuse, violence, crime, among others.

There are an estimated 1,500 drug users in over 48 ghettos in and around Monrovia as a result of drug abuse, most of whom are youth, according to the group Anti-Drug Campaigners in Liberia.

According to the campaign group, the number of drug users is gradually increasing due to the lack of anti-drug rehabilitation centers where psychosocial therapists would be mostly needed.

In spite of the need for psychosocial therapists, Tolbert believes empowering youth through skill training is one of the best ways forward in improving youth capacity, as well as preventing them from acts of violence.

“We must say no to violence and avoid consumption of harmful substances in our preparation for election.

The peace Liberia has can only be maintained by citizens themselves and we are recommending that opportunities be provided youths so that they can learn new skills and learn to do things on their own,” he said.

Moreover, Tolbert said capacity building of youths across Liberia would help them in community building processes, as well as creating a violence-free society for Liberia.

He further explained that preserving Liberia’s peace was cardinal and needs the total involvement of everyone, especially youths in the motorcycle transport sector, making specific reference to the Pen-Pen Peace Network.

Pen-Pen Peace Network is a motorcycle and tricycle peace organization that promotes peace activities in various communities across Liberia.

Tolbert cautioned motorcyclists to be law-abiding in the midst of UNMIL drawdown ahead of the 2017 general and presidential elections. He admonished them not to allow themselves be used to perpetrate violence.

 Peace Ambassador Tolbert wants citizens across the country to remain positive of the country’s peace, noting that it would not be helpful to keep thinking about crisis.

Speaking at the start of a community peace building initiative in Barnesville, the Country Director of Perdue, an organization that supports the Pen-Pen Peace Network of Liberia, Grace Y. Mayson, said constant community engagement was an efficient way of curtailing violence.

Mayson wants motorcyclists avoid disenchantment with the Liberia National Police and reunite with various security apparatus for the maintenance of peace in the midst of UNMIL departure.

Meanwhile, the Country Director of Perdue believes the lack of knowledge on community peace building has been a major factor responsible for series of rivalry among police and motorcyclists.

She called for total involvement of motorcyclists in community peace building throughout the country in preparation for the pending 2017 elections.

 Kakata, (LINA) – The Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, (DEA) Detachment at the Roberts International Airport, (RIA) in Margibi County has arrested and forwarded to court two Nigerian nationals for allegedly bringing into the country several kilograms of heroin.

The two arrested for Nigerians are identified as Onuoha C. Samuels, 46 and Victor Uchi Ukam, 30.

Disclosing to the Liberia News Agency today in kakata, the Chief Investigator of Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency at the Roberts International Airport, LT/Col. Augustine B. Doe, said on March 11, 2016, Onuoha C. Samuel, a Nigerian national at age 46 was arrested with 4 kilograms of heroin.

LT/Col. Said during preliminary investigation, suspect Samuel confessed and also said the 4 kilograms of heroin was shipped by him to Liberia through a consignee identified as Yassah D. Kollie in care of a shipping agent also identified as George D. Campbell who operates a forwarding company located between Old and New Matadi Estates in Monrovia.

On April 25, 2016, Suspect Victor Uchi Ukam was also arrested with 23 tubes of heroin that he swallowed before coming to Liberia.

Upon Ukam arrival at the Roberts International Airport, he was arrested by the Liberia Drug Enforcement at the RIA.

The combined street value of the arrested heroin from the two Nigerian and one Guinea Bissau nationals is put at over fourteen million United States Dollars.

In a related development, a Guinea Bissau national identified as Antonio Gomez, 47, has been arrested by the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency at the Roberts International, (RIA) in Lower Margibi County.

Suspect Gomez was arrested on April 8, 2016 with over 140 kilograms of pure heroin.

Suspect Gomez is current under the jurisdiction of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Kakata also pending court trial.

The culprits are all under the jurisdiction of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court in Kakata pending trial for the May Term of Court.

Buchanan, Grand Bassa County – The Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) operation dragnet is swiftly cleaning the port city of Buchanan of drug users and dealers though timely prosecution and rehabilitation of these alleged criminals and drug abusers are glaring challenges.

The arrests of 12 persons including a female last Friday, April 22 is a step forward after four other arrests including a Nigerian who was arrested in February this year with huge quantity of heroin while the other three (Liberians) were also arrested with bags of marijuana.

Delays in hearing these drug cases by the magisterial court in Buchanan is a concern as over 20 cases remain on the court’s docket since 2009.

The court has also since February this year prolonged the trial of three accused drug traffickers: Mickey Gray, Sunnyboy Johnson and Ghanaian Edward Jyesi – all arrested in possession of huge quantity of drugs including heroin.

Prolonged trail is reportedly an impediment to the DEA’s efforts to combat drug abusing and peddling as mandated by the country’s new drug law.

Speaking on the recent arrest, the Grand Bassa County DEA Commander, Major Joseph Taggedine disclosed that four of the 12 suspects are notorious drug peddlers.

He named them as Alieu Jalloh, Mitchell Sherman, Boakai Fahnbulleh and Ralph Anderson, adding that they were arrested with search and seizure warrant while others were apprehended after hot pursuit within the Wako Camp, Atlantic Street, Water and Sewer and New Buchanan communities.

He added that preliminary investigation is ongoing while also stressing that the Operation Dragnet will continue and if logistical support for the DEA improves it will extend to other populated rural towns in the county.

Major Taggedine warned the public that dealers of these barred-substances are remaking them by using varieties of Liberian food including kiss-meat and dried fish dust, and he warned that non-drug users may be affected if they consumed these food items that are easily sold in the communities.

“If you don’t know or if you are innocent to it and decide to take that kiss meat (and eat it), definitely you will go off,” the Grand Bassa DEA boss told reporters. “It is looking common but it has a lot of content in it.”

Despite the frantic efforts by the DEA to raid the port city of drugs and its addicts, public perception in the county about the increase of drug addicts is against the agency. Some alleged that although drug abusers or dealers are frequently arrested, they are too easily released.

But the head of the DEA in the county argues that those in the public making these assertions don’t understand the mandate of the DEA. “

If I arrest John Brown and send John Brown to the court and the court having to release him I don’t have the authority to arrest him because the court has released him then I will be disrespecting the court because the court cannot release somebody then I re-arrest them,” he explained.

Liberia’s Drug Law Debate

Taggedine’s justification supports a national debate focusing on the country’s readiness to combat drug trafficking as the recent upsurge of drug addiction remains troubling for a country with a history of violence created by the civil crisis.

In 2014, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf approved the anti-drug law, but there were delays in printing it into handbills by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nevertheless, legal experts say the ‘Controlled Drugs and Substances Act’ should be full swing since it’s been signed by the Chief Executive. Labelled as a non-billable crime, the law speaks of drug traffickers and hard-core drug users risk being punished for possession.

The DEA is mandated to regulate policy that will ensure the effectiveness of this new drug law but it faces constraints including limited man power in urban slums, very rural areas including artisanal mining sites – otherwise known as gold mine.

In 2015 DEA Director, Anthony K. Souh lamented that the lack of a proper legal framework which includes a fast-track court and professionalized prosecutorial team to deal with drug cases and inadequate logistical support is posing difficulties to the agency’s work.

He said the DEA needs the required logistics and trained manpower if it is to meet public expectations in terms of limiting the power of those engaged in the illicit drug trade against the country’s national security, health and economic interest of the country.

No Rehab Center, a Problem

In Buchanan, efforts are impaired due to the lack of a rehabilitation center for convicts who served time at the Buchanan Central Prison. Communities are weary by the presence of these drug addicts and the continuous sale of drug and are constrained to blame the DEA while others bewailed the ineffectiveness of the drug law.

But Major Taggedine argues that the lack of a rehabilitation Center for those who have served time makes the campaign against drug trafficking derisive since it provides limited options for individuals who should be reintegrated after their prison sentence.

“This is why I continue to advocate for this rehabilitation center – a counselling session to be in the DEA and the Ministry of Justice,” he suggested.

“Because a lot of guys that we arrest go through their sentence and get back to the community and carry out the same act,” he added.

Suspects Denied

Meanwhile, several of those arrested denied the charges. One of the suspects only identify as Alberts said he’s confident he will be released by the court. “ I know I will be release because I was not caught with anything or smoking anything,” the 24 years old who claimed to be an artisanal fisher man told reporters from behind Police cell.

Another 17 year-old boy also amongst the detainees cried that he was loitering when the DEA ransacked the ghetto and raided them while a female, Hannah David arrested for allegedly dealing heroin admitted that her lover is a drug dealer.

“The man hardly leaves the drug with me to sell but because he and I loving that’s why they arrest me,” she explained. “Because my parents don’t have money to send me to school and I drop from school that’s why I’m just forced to be with the man.”

Alpha Daffae Senkpeni, daffae.senkpeni@frontpageafricaonline.com

Monrovia – Liberia continues to be a trafficking and transiting hub for traffickers of narcotic substances.

The Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) detachment assigned at the Roberts International Airport has arrested a national of Guinea Bissau for attempting to bring narcotic substances into the country.

Antonio Gomes was arrested with four kilogram of cocaine valued at US$ 34,000 equivalent to LD$2,240,000.00

The latest arrest comes less than three weeks following the arrest of a Nigerian national-Chukwu Samuel Onuoha with a huge quantity of drugs at the Roberts International Airport.

According to the Director General of the DEA, Hon. Anthony K. Souh, suspect Gomes boarded a Kenyan Airways flight number 5539 to Accra, Ghana, from where he transited at the Roberts International Airport.

He emphasized that when suspect Gomes was quizzed by both DEA and Immigration Officers at the RIA about his occupation, he stated that he was a diplomat.

Hon. Souh narrated that suspect Gomes abandoned his traveling bag in the terminal and walked out after realizing that he was being observed by airport security.

“It was at this point that he was placed under arrest for investigation after which he will be transferred to the Magisterial Court in Unification Town, Margibi County for preliminary examination and subsequent prosecution at 113th Circuit Court in Kakata, Margibi County,” Souh added.

Meanwhile, suspect Gomes has been sent to the RIA Magisterial Court in lower Margibi County for trial..  

Last year, a Nigerian identified as Damian Obi was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency for the importation of a clandestine laboratory equipment for the manufacturing of illicit drugs.

“On October 26, 2015, while loading the goods from the containers on a truck after DEA has taken assignment at the Port, DEA officers recognized the three so-called water pumps or water filters to clandestine laboratory equipment or machines for manufacturing illicit drugs,” DEA Boss Anthony Souh said.

Souh said that the three machines can separate marijuana plant materials from its resin.

 Souh said, the equipment for the production of illicit drugs was imported into Liberia through the Freeport of Monrovia on a 20ft container- MRSU- 0105780 of assorted goods from the Republic of China.

Nigerian nationals have been at the center of most of the drug arrest alongside Liberian accomplices, mostly female.