IN RECENT PAST, there has been filtering reports of some Liberian security personnel colluding with drugs peddlers (dealers) to creep into the society with narcotics and other dangerous substances, mainly Kush.
MANY of THOSE, predominantly foreign nationals caught with some of these dangerous substances and caged in the custody of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) are often sent to court, but later released and allowed to move around freely.
WHAT IS MORE worrying is the visible presence of some of these notorious drug addicts, otherwise referred to as Zogos, mingling with some top security personalities at various entertainment centers in Monrovia and other parts of the country.
A CASE IN point is a notable drugs dealer whose residence was searched and tons of dangerous narcotics confiscated from (within) the city radius last year. No more trace of the case.
THE LDEA HAS caned many other dealers from across the country, but unfortunately, the illegal trade continues unabated, leaving the Agency forceful director-general Anthony K. Souh craving government and partners’ supports in the fight against the drug menace.
BEFORE TAKING OFFICE, Mr. Souh suggested ‘drug test’ for all officials, irrespective of one status to do the test before confirmation and or taking office.
Ill- ADVISEDLY, SOUH’S quest for the ‘drug test’ was placed on ice, but President Joseph NYUMA Boakai and his principal deputy took up the challenged when they took the ‘test’ and the results freed the duo of any substance abused.
SINCE THEN, AGENTS of the LDEA have tailed suspected peddlers, among them, are few other foreign nationals with assumed connivance of some Liberian higher-ups.
WITH THE LDEA all-out fight to make the country a drug-free society, the public is yet to witness concrete result.
THE INPROFILE HAS learned of suspects acquiring drugs compressing machines, along with other equipment that turn the raw Kush materials into finished products on our soil.
THE RECENT ARREST of a petit dealer, who is always in the company of a high-flying Liberian with millions of dollars’ worth of compressed marijuana has added to the already scaring threats over the dominance of infamous drugs traffickers across the borders.
WHILE WE APPLAUD the government and the LDEA for taking some steps to curb the escalating rate of this peril, we join our voices to that of Mr. Souh to speed up the momentum by carrying out a vigorous nation-wide drugs test; starting with all law enforcement officers to the tree branches of government.
REPORTS OF COLLUSION by security officers with drug dealers and traffickers in our towns are worrying; hence making it imperative for government to proceed speedily in institutionalizing a system whereby our law enforcers could undergo episodic drugs test to safeguard our nation from the hands of the fast-growing numbers of the Zogos.
CURBING THE DANGEROUS act of drugs and human trafficking has become a global challenge and any nation failing to join the combined fight sits at the brink of social collapse.
THIS IS WHY we strongly hold the conviction that our government should take practical steps to ensure a drugs-free society.
AND WE THINK administering drugs test for law enforcers could just be a pragmatic first start, which must also be enhanced by strong anti-drugs laws since the ones on our books do not tolerably address the national challenges.