As Illicit Drugs Trafficking And Use Goes On The Rise
PHOTO: LDEA county commander Bustler Jolon being interviewed by journalists on the arrest made so far.
By King Brown- Sarwahking@gmail.com Â
GRAND BASSA, Liberia– Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) in Grand Bassa County arrested a 34-year-old man for being in possession of 43.3 kilograms of heroin value LRD$900,000 and 4,64 kilograms of poscal valued at LRD$10,450, as the local commander speaks of an increase in trafficking of illicit substances.
The alleged drug trafficker, Siaka Konneh was en-route from Grand Bassa to Sinoe counties when he was tracked down by DEA officers.
Konneh was arrested at about 2pm, on Wednesday, December 6, at the Timbo River checkpoint near the Rivercess and Grand Bassa boundary.
Bustler Jolon, LDEA’s Grand Bassa Commander said that the narcotic drugs were discovered in a box tied up within a bag on a vehicle owned by Mr. Konneh, who claimed to be a commercial driver running traffic between Montserrado and Sinoe Counties.
Commander Jolon cautioned drug dealers and users to always be on the alert for DEA actions, adding they will be out for this festive season. He mentioned criminals are importing and selling illicit drugs day by day without fear because they lack logistics and insufficient manpower to combat them at once.
He announced that they are expected to launch an operation very soon called “Clean Grand Bassa County “from December to January, which aims to fight crack down drug traffickers and end consumers.
According to the local LDEA commander, the trafficking of narcotic drugs is on the increase each year during the dry season and, as a result of that, he instructed his officers assigned at various checkpoints and duties stations to be more vigilant and keep focus to ensure they made major seizures this festive season.
“The suspect is a taxi driver, he said one man who lives in Monrovia gave him the goods to drop it in Greenville, we discovered the substance in a box within a bag and so far, so good he’s the only suspect we have now on this matter,” Commander Jolon explained.
He emphasized that they are faced with lots of challenges ranging from insufficient manpower and lack of operational vehicle and logistics to enable them to chase after drug traffickers and users to minimize it.
“We have a lot of challenges, though the government has been trying in her weak ways, but we do not have sufficient manpower and logistics. We are using our skills based on the training we got to be successful in arresting drug suspects and seizing illicit drugs,” the LDEA Grand Bassa County Commander added.
Illicit drug trafficking suspect arrested by officers of the LDEA at Timbo River checkpoint
For his part, the alleged drugs suspect Siaka Konneh told investigators he knows nothing about the illicit drugs discovered in his vehicle. Mr. Konneh accused authorities of the Federation of Road Transport Union at the Red-light parking terminal for putting the narcotic drugs in his vehicle.
According to him, each time he parked his vehicle under the terminal, the FRTUL is responsible to load the vehicle and when it gets fill, the Union collects the transportation fare from the passengers and report to him (driver) and then he pays the Ministry of Transport regulated fees to them before he begins his journey.
“The union people put everything in my car. They were the ones who loaded my car. It is my first time being involved in a drug issue. We have parking space in Red-light – Monrovia where the FRTUL workers can load our vehicles and when the car gets filled, they called us to take our cars and we paid their fees” He said.
He said the union people told him it was a tie soap cartoon and he was carrying the goods to a lady whose name and contact were written on the cartoon that when he reached Greenville, Sinoe County he should call her to receive it.
Konneh said when DEA officers discovered the drugs while checking in the various cartoons, they called the lady whose name and contact were written on the cartoon but she confirmed being the owner of the telephone number but she  knows nothing about illicit drugs or any other goods.
He added “I was carrying the goods to one lady, but when DEA officers called her, she said the goods are not for her though her name and contact are written on the drugs carton”.
Over the last two years, this is the biggest seizure made so far by officers of the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency, Grand Bassa Detachment.
Meanwhile, suspect Konneh is presently in police detention undergoing investigation to prove his innocent while his vehicle is impounded at the police headquarters on the fairground in Buchanan.
However, the drug law talks about the cultivation, manufacture, importation, export, trafficking and sale of controlled drugs and substances not bailable.
These acts listed as a first-degree felony, a grave offense under Liberian laws.
However, the law makes the use or consumption of controlled drugs and substances a second-degree felony and is bailable consistent with the constitutional right to bail for the commission of the crime.
The instrument is under the title “Offense Involving Danger to the Person.’’