-Others being pursued
By Augustine Octavius
After cocaine and other narcotic drugs worth 1.7 million Liberian dollars were discovered in the cells of the Monrovia Central prison, one Correction Officer at the Ministry of Justice has been dismissed and another detained.
The value in US dollars will be in their thousands, as one US dollars is currently being traded for 143 Liberian dollars on the local foreign exchange market.
Following tip off from the Assistant Minister of the Bureau of Correction, officers of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) carried out a sweep of the entire central prison compound, seizing a big consignment of illicit drugs.
Assistant Minister Eddie Tarawali told Journalists on Wednesday, that four others are being sought for allegedly smuggling drugs into the Monrovia Central Prison and trafficking the harmful substances.
The majority of inmates at the Monrovia Central Prison are males, according to a report by the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR). Women and minors comprise a small percentage of the population.
The Assistant Minister at the Correction Bureay, Mr. Tarawali identified the dismissed Correction Officer as Putu Johnson while another Correction Officer, Titus King has been turned over to the LDEA.
The names of the four others still being sought have not yet being made public.
According to Tarawali, intelligence gathered has revealed that other prisons including the Correction palace in Liberia’s southeastern Grand Gedeh County are being affected by the drugs trade.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Director for Administration at the Drug Enforcement Agency, Sebastian Gibson said the drugs discovered at the Monrovia Central Prison heroin and marijuana with a street value of 1.7 million Liberian dollars.
He thanked the head of the Bureau of Correction who made it possible for the search and seizure to be mounted by Drugs Enforcement Agency officer.
Mr. Gibson said that some 40 LDEA officers were involved in the surprise raid of the overcrowded Monrovia Central Prison based on the request of the Assistant Justice Minister, Tarawali.