Liberia's war against drug trafficking has entered a new phase. Recent seizures of nearly US$390 million worth of suspected cocaine, coupled with increasingly coordinated operations by the Joint National Security Investigation Task Force, suggest that the Government is beginning to understand an important truth: the objective is no longer simply to seize drugs. It is to dismantle the criminal organizations that finance, facilitate and protect them.
The same principle applies to corruption.
Neither drug cartels nor corrupt networks survive because they are stronger than the State. They survive because they exploit weaknesses within it. They depend on compromised officials, intimidated witnesses, manipulated information and fractured institutions. They thrive in secrecy. They thrive when public confidence collapses.
That is why the State cannot fight cartels alone.
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Recent statements by Liberia National Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman, following similar remarks weeks earlier by Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation Managing Director Mo Ali, suggest that elements within the media have been compromised by persons seeking to undermine the ongoing drug trafficking investigations. If that is true, it is a matter of profound national concern.
But accusations of that magnitude demand evidence.
Neither official has publicly identified the journalists or media organizations allegedly involved, nor presented proof to support such serious claims. In their absence, broad accusations risk casting suspicion over an entire profession that continues to play a vital role in informing the public and holding institutions accountable.
At the same time, the media must also examine itself honestly.
Not every media platform practice journalism. Some reporters and media houses have allowed political loyalties, financial inducements or personal interests to distort their reporting. Others publish allegations with little regard for verification, only to move on quietly when the facts prove otherwise. Too often, corrections and retractions are treated as admissions of weakness rather than demonstrations of professional integrity.
That culture must change.
A profession that demands accountability from government must be equally prepared to hold itself accountable.
Yet, Government must resist the temptation to view the independent press as an obstacle to its work. The relationship between investigators and journalists has never been comfortable, nor should it be. Investigators protect evidence. Journalists pursue information. One cannot expect the Joint Security Task Force to issue a running commentary on every investigative development, particularly in cases involving sophisticated international trafficking organizations. Operational secrecy is not only legitimate; it is often essential to successful prosecutions.
But secrecy and strategic communication are not the same thing.
In the absence of credible official information, speculation inevitably fills the vacuum. That vacuum serves neither justice nor public confidence. It creates fertile ground for conspiracy theories, political manipulation and deliberate disinformation -- the very environment in which organized criminal networks prefer to operate.
This is why strategic communication must become an integral part of Liberia's fight against drugs and corruption.
The Government should not disclose information that jeopardizes investigations. But neither should it allow uncertainty to become the dominant public narrative. Timely, factual and credible communication strengthens investigations because it builds public trust, encourages witnesses to come forward and reassures citizens that justice is proceeding without fear or favour.
The media is indispensable to that process.
Many of the most consequential developments surrounding Liberia's recent drug investigations have emerged through persistent journalism. Official investigations have confirmed some reports, challenged others and corrected still more. That is how an independent society functions. Journalists are not prosecutors, and prosecutors are not journalists. Their roles are different, but their ultimate objective should be the same: the truth.
There is another reason the Government should avoid creating unnecessary friction with the media.
Liberians carry deep scars from decades of failed prosecutions. Time and again, they have watched corruption scandals and major drug cases produce dramatic arrests, only to end in acquittals, abandoned prosecutions or convictions of minor players while the alleged architects disappear from public view. It is against that history -- not today's headlines -- that the public judges the current investigations.
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President Joseph Boakai has promised that no one will be untouchable. Attorney General Cllr. Oswald Tweh has pledged to dismantle criminal networks, not merely intercept narcotics. Those commitments deserve public support. But they also require public confidence.
That confidence will not be built by treating journalists as adversaries. Nor will it be sustained by journalists who abandon fairness for advocacy or speculation.
The enemies of Liberia are not the reporters asking difficult questions. They are the traffickers who purchase silence, the corrupt officials who betray the public trust, and the criminal organizations that believe our institutions -- media government alike -- can be bought.
Government, ethical journalists, honest investigators, conscientious prosecutors, courageous whistleblowers and an informed public all stand on the same side of that fight.
The State cannot fight cartels alone. Nor can it defeat corruption without the partnership of a free, responsible and independent press.
