MONROVIA — Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) Deputy Director Gwee Porkpa has linked the country's persistent drug crisis to poor leadership and warned that the illegal trade reaches into all branches of government, making the fight against narcotics an uphill battle.
Speaking Wednesday at a meeting with journalists and LDEA agents, Porkpa issued a stern warning to agency officers suspected of drug use, saying they would be dismissed immediately if caught.
"You can't be consuming drugs and you want to go fight somebody -- no," Porkpa said. "We don't have consideration for any of our officers involved with drugs. That is the fight we are doing. We start with ourselves. Whatsoever we put out there must be a good example."
Addressing allegations that some LDEA personnel may be using narcotics, Porkpa challenged anyone with concrete evidence to report it directly to him.
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He said Liberia's drug problem is deeply entrenched, with links running from ordinary households to the highest levels of power. "From the Executive to the Legislature to the Judiciary, you will find somebody involved with drugs," he said. "The reason is simple -- the drug business is lucrative, so everybody wants to get money. If you are fighting drugs, you are fighting people almost everywhere."
Porkpa described the danger of such widespread involvement, warning that drug dealers and traffickers often operate close to homes. "You can be sitting with your own brother who is involved because he is getting money from it," he said. "People in a house, their children, could be selling drugs -- they know. Someone leaves a foreign country to come here; they are not living in the forest but in somebody's house here. The president said it -- people who are selling drugs are not living in the sky but in houses. Why are the Liberian people not showing these people?"
The deputy director's remarks come amid growing public concern over rising narcotics use, particularly among youth. The LDEA has stepped up enforcement operations in recent months, but Porkpa's comments suggest the challenge is as much about political will and societal cooperation as it is about law enforcement.
Sen. Abraham Darius Dillon, reacting to Porkpa's remarks, said the allegations must not go unaddressed.
"It is being widely reported that Deputy Director Gwee Porkpa of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency has publicly alleged and accused 'some public officials' within the government of being directly involved with, or enabling, the drug trade in Liberia. This is grave and must not go unattended; the allegation must be treated with the seriousness it deserves. If left unattended, the allegation leaves negative aspersions on all public officials," Dillon wrote in a Facebook post.
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Dillon said it is necessary to identify those involved and ensure they face the full weight of the law. "We must separate the sheep from the goats; name, shame and prosecute. The Executive, by and through the Justice Ministry, must act now on this grave allegation," the Montserrado County lawmaker said.
He added that if the Executive does not act by calling on the LDEA deputy director to assist in exposing alleged public officials involved in drug deals, the Senate will take action upon its return from break.
"Alternatively, upon our return from break, we will immediately rally the Senate to summon the LDEA deputy director in open plenary to have him identify and name the specific public officials allegedly involved, with credible facts and evidence, so as to push for appropriate legal actions in keeping with the law," Dillon said.
He said: "We must truly demonstrate the #SayNoToDrugs in words and concrete actions without fear and without favor."
