-But Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency officials in Lofa not pleased
By Tokpa Tarnue, tarnue82@gmail.com
Voinjama, Liberia –Liberian criminal justice system is often busy handling cases on the illicit drugs trade, with the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) being at the center of rounding up suspected drug traffickers.
Sometimes some of the suspected drug traffickers are convicted, but at times the court is not convinced that there is prima faci evidence to convict the defendant9s).
That was the case over the weekend in Foya City in Liberia’s northwestern Lofa County, when the Magisterial Court there dismissed a drugs case involving a 20-year-old Nigerian national identified as Benjamin Ebukai.
The Nigerian man was arrested by the Lofa County Detachment of the Liberia LDEA for illegally possessing narcotic drugs with a street value of US$1,050.00 in Lofa County.
The Lofa County Detachment of the LDEA reported last Tuesday that Benjamin Ebukai was arrested with 30 grams of Heroin in the Peace Community in Foya City.
The court in its ruling indicated that during investigation, it was established that the LDEA officer identify as Moses Martian entered the premises of the defendant without a search warrant and forcibly carried out the search which was unlawful.
The ruling further said that the defendant through his defense lawyer informed the court that the LDEA agents while in the search made away with the sum of 92,000 Liberian dollars belonging to the defendant. The LDEA agents were also accused of flogging the suspect, an account corroborated by eye witnesses, with the defense lawyer terming it as robbery.
When contacted, the LDEA Lofa County Commander Special Agent Moses Nimely said his agency has takedn exception to the court’s ruling on grounds that the case was above the jurisdiction of the magisterial court.
According to him, the Magisterial Court should have forwarded the case to the 10th Judicial Circuit court in voinjama for prosecution.
The local LDEA Commander further indicated that his agents used what he termed as hot pursuit and did not enter the premises of the defendant as was being alleged.
But he said the suspect was arrested in an unfinished building while on the run after receiving a tap up from one Daniel Tamba.
Special Agent Nimely disclosed that this was the second time for Benjamin Ebukai to be arrested with narcotic substance but got informed that the defendant was released for the first time on bill.