THERE CANNOT NEVER ANY of form of denial of the fact that Liberia, of course, faces a daunting task of fighting the inundation and proliferation of drugs and other narcotic substances into its bailiwick in an unprecedented manner since its founding centuries ago. Instead, what should be a moment for national unity and urgent action is being drowned in denial, political finger-pointing, and a blame game that serves no one except the traffickers, and does not even utter existing realities.
Whether Liberians like or not, the numbers are no longer abstract. This is because in recent months, Joint Security seized 3,971 kilograms of cocaine in Duazon valued at over US$317 million, and 237.6 kilograms at Roberts International Airport valued at more than US$19 million. Summed up, that is over US$336 million worth of narcotics intercepted in one of the poorest countries on earth.
THE REALITY THAT STANDS out is that beyond the seizures, the streets tell another story that our schools, ghettos, and communities are flooded with kush, tramadol, and other synthetic drugs, while young people, the very demographic meant to drive the ARREST Agenda or prepare themselves for future leadership, are losing that future to addiction. As a consequence, families are breaking, crime is rising, and hospitals are overwhelmed. Take or leave it, this is not a future threat, but it is here, and it is now.
BUT WHAT DO LIBERIANS equally face is that instead of a coordinated war on drugs, they are witnessing a theater of deflection. Current officials point to 2018 as the year “cartels re-entered” while others point back at past failures of interdiction, porous borders, and weak institutions. The Police IG Gregory Coleman alleges senior officials, past and present, are complicit, and also accused the media of taking money to distract. It is a game of everyone has a theory, and everyone has a culprit. But what we do not have is a shared national plan that rises above party lines. Liberians have to face it that denial is dangerous because it wastes time. Fingers-pointing is dangerous because it politicizes a security crisis. The blame game is dangerous because while we argue about who opened the door in 2018, the door remains open in 2026.
THE HARD TRUTH WE must confront is that this is not about one administration because drug trafficking networks are patient and opportunistic. They exploit weak ports, weak courts, weak oversight — regardless of who sits in the Executive Mansion. To suggest it started or ended with one government is to misunderstand how transnational crime works. This is why institutions matter more than individuals, and this also why the LDEA, LNP, Judiciary, and Port Authorities need resources, training, forensic labs, and protection from political interference. We are afraid that without that, seizures become photo-ops and prosecutions collapse. From all indications, Liberians cannot interdict our way out of this crisis alone because thousands of Liberian youth are using drugs because of unemployment, hopelessness, and lack of opportunity, while rehabilitation, education, and jobs must sit beside law enforcement.
GIVEN LIBERIA’S GLARING SHORTCOMINGS, international cooperation is not optional. And that is why the DEA, Moroccan, and Rwandan partnerships cited by Police IG Coleman are welcome. As Liberia’s coastline and borders make its citizens vulnerable, the need for intelligence sharing, asset tracking, and help to follow the money is of essence. More besides, the fight against drugs should go alone with transparency which builds trust. And as former VP Jewel Howard-Taylor noted, due process matters, and that forensic testing, sample preservation, and documented destruction are not bureaucratic delays. They are how we ensure convictions stand and how we prove to the world that Liberia is serious.
WHAT MUST HAPPEN NOW, in our mind, is to end the public bickering, call a national, non-partisan task force on drugs that includes government, opposition, civil society, religious leaders, and the diaspora. The fight must be fully funded and budgetary priority must go to the LDEA, border security, and drug treatment centers. A country that can find money for roads must also find money to save its youth. Also, the process must be protected, and any destruction of evidence must be done with observers, with samples preserved, and with the chain of custody intact. Justice must be seen to be done. Another significant factor is holding people accountable, not with press statements, but in court. If there is evidence of officials aiding traffickers, past or present, they must face prosecution, and if there is evidence of media interference, investigate and publish findings.
THE TIME IS NOW to choose reality over rhetoric because Liberia did not become a transit point overnight, and it will not be cleaned up overnight. Rather, we will never win if we spend more energy assigning blame than dismantling networks. The reality is that drugs are here, they are killing our young people, and they are threatening our sovereignty. The choice before us is simple. We can continue the denial, the finger-pointing, and the blame game. Or we can face the reality together, with courage, with facts, and with a national commitment that outlasts any one government. This is because our children, and the next 179 years of this Republic, depend on which path we choose. Liberia’s Drugs Crisis of denial, fingers-pointing and blame game is up against the realities that don’t hide any longer.
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