The Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA) in Maryland County has arrested huge quantities of illegal narcotic substances believed to be marijuana in the county.
Speaking to the media over the weekend at the compound of the LDEA in Maryland County following the arrest of a huge quantity of narcotic substances, Papa S. Gumbo, LDEA Commander in County, disclosed that on Monday night, April 10, 2023, he received a call from intel that setting drugs had entered the county and that it was in one of the nearby towns.
Commander Gumbo said that immediately after the call he dispatched officers, and that is how the huge quantity of drugs was arrested.
According to him, the drugs were arrested along with one Frances Wallace, a Liberian of 25 years old and a resident of Harper.
Commander Gumbo also told the media that the drugs weigh about 476 kilograms and have a street value of 36,000 United States dollars.
He further mentioned that suspect Frances Wallace was arrested and is in their custody undergoing investigation and that he will be charged and sent to court for prosecution.
However, he said they cannot say who else is linked to the matter, but they suspect Frances was the one in the custody of the drug, and he (Frances) admitted to the investigator that he knows about the drug.
“I was transferred from Bomi to Maryland County, where I resumed duty yesterday as the new LDEA Commander, and as you know, the operation of LDEA is classified, so we are relying on the public for information. We, officers, do not live in these towns, villages, or along the borders; we reside in other communities, so if you have information, come; our offices are open 24 hours a day,” he said.
The Maryland LDEA Commander also assured Marylanders that anyone who has information concerning drugs in the county should inform them as such and shouldn’t be afraid because their identity will not be disclosed to the public.
Meanwhile, Gumbo emphasized that there are a lot of challenges the LDEA has, which are mainly logistical for them to be able to do their job.
“I told the City Mayor of Harper in a meeting recently as the new LDEA Commander after my tour of the county that the city is dark, and you know the light is also security. I appeal to him to engage the Liberia Electricity Corporation to install light bulbs on the poles because we will be doing night patrol moving from one place to another,” he said.
He stressed that the lack of vehicles is a serious issue, with the LDEA adding that “we have asked the government of Liberia to address this logistics issue, but it seems like they are not ready. Imagine that we sometimes use commercial motorbikes for operations, which is risky because criminals might escape from us. We will continue to work with what we have until the central government can address some of the challenges we are facing. Another issue is that we don’t have a jail to keep criminals, so we take them to the police, which is risky and needs to be addressed.”.
Commander Gumbo said his motto is ‘No way for the unprepared. He, therefore, believes that as the new LDEA boss in the county based on his track record for which he was transferred to Maryland County, he and his team will work hard regardless of the many challenges to ensure that perpetrators of drug crimes are brought to justice.
