Africa-Press – Liberia. The Liberia Drug Enforcement Authority (LDEA) says it needs a larger budgetary allotment in order to strengthen its capacity to counter the influx of narcotic substances in the country.
The agency deems the US$1.9 million allotted in the 2023 budget as too little to effectively fight the trafficking and abuse of narcotic substances. It is therefore calling on government and developmental partners to provide more funding.
The appeal comes following the approval of a US$1.9 million budgetary appropriation for LDEA by the House of Representatives for the 2023 fiscal year — an amount the agency sees as too small.
The LDEA’s appeal for more funding comes at a time when there is an increase in the volume and street value of narcotics being trafficked through Liberia as well as consumed here.
Two huge consignments of cocaine smuggled into the country through the Freeport of Monrovia were busted and seized by security officers between October 2022 and February 2023. The first seizure, which was made in early January, occurred when AJA Group raised an alarm over some 520 grams of cocaine worth US$100M that were smuggled into the country — unbeknown to the company — within the company’s container of frozen food.
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Another company, TRH, was also instrumental in helping the government in busting another huge consignment of narcotics illegally shipped into Liberia through the Freeport of Monrovia. The company helped the government arrest US$37 million worth of cocaine when it again raised alarm about a container within its import consignment.
Based on the tipoff, the seizure of the 197 packages of cocaine was a coordinated effort of the LDEA, the Liberia Maritime Authority, the Liberia Seaport Police, and the Port Facility Security Office.
With these threats hovering over the country and the drug-related crimes still bailable, LDEA argued that the US$1.9 million is not enough to support its operation as it is, especially when there are already logistical issues.
The LDEA believes that raising the amount to a more acceptable level would help the country succeed in the war against drugs.
“We are aware of the many competing priorities that rely on the small national purse,” LDEA Director General, Marcus Zehyoue, said. “But the state’s security is threatened every day from within. People are brave in killing their fellow human beings and causing so much other damage because they use drugs.”
Drug addiction is rapidly becoming a national crisis as more young people fall prey to illegal substances.
A UNFPA report indicates that two out of 10 young people are addicted to drugs, a situation the LDEA described as alarming. “At-risk youth” or “disadvantaged youth,” as young people addicted to drugs are called, can be seen in every community across Liberia. The government has since launched a US$13.9 million program to have them rehabilitated.
The agency also wants to establish a drug data center and an intelligence gathering system to fight drug trafficking.
LDEA Deputy Executive Director Lorenzo Pelham said these measures would protect the territorial borders of Liberia from the trafficking of drugs and controlled substances.
He indicated the LDEA deployment strategy intends to deploy an intelligence management information system and immediately establish a secure Data Center that would coordinate intelligence gathering and sharing between international security organizations and domestic law enforcement organizations.
“On that, we are not equipped to do that, I will be honest, we are striving to get to that level but we are not up to that task, but we depend on our International partners. We got the Interpol, the US Embassy, we got our counterparts around Africa that we relate to and we share information,” he said.
“If we talk about technologies that will track down the various airports, like the seaports, we don’t have that. We need more support.”
He estimated the cost to hire the consulting firm to provide the needed and required service setup of a secured data entry within the current DEA facility with the needed high-speed servers, raised floors, fire suppression systems, smoke alarm systems, handheld drug detection devices, and a customized Drugs Intelligence Information System with the capability of integration with global security systems would be valued at US$35 million.
“We have plans that we have set up already, we called for a meeting a few weeks ago, and maybe in the next two weeks that will be addressed. If we will talk about support, maybe around US$35 million [it would take] to support the LDEA.”
He, however, indicated that the proposed system is intended to integrate with the major Drugs intelligence systems in the sub-region — specifically WAPIS and INTERPOL — to mentor and progress in terms of the arrest.
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