Lberian Youth Stand with the State Against Drug Cartels | News

The Federation of Liberian Youth (FLY) welcomes and unequivocally supports the government’s intensified efforts to dismantle transnational drug trafficking networks operating in Liberia.

In recent months, Liberia has witnessed what is, by any measure, one of the most significant law-enforcement actions against international drug trafficking in the country’s history. Nearly four tons of cocaine, reportedly valued at approximately US$317 million, were recovered in Duazon, Margibi County, representing the largest narcotics seizure recorded in Liberia. A separate shipment valued at approximately US$19.2 million was also intercepted at Roberts International Airport.

Following these developments, President Joseph Nyuma Boakai has taken decisive administrative actions involving senior security and airport officials implicated in the cases, while the Ministry of Justice has committed to pursuing drug traffickers and any public official or other person found to have facilitated, protected, or participated in these criminal networks.

The scale of the drug crisis demands an equally serious national response. Liberian young people are among those most directly affected by the growing narcotics crisis, particularly the proliferation of kush and other dangerous substances across communities in all 15 counties. We therefore have a direct and urgent interest in ensuring that drug trafficking networks are identified, dismantled, and brought to justice.

FLY believes the Ministry of Justice and other relevant state institutions are taking the right steps, and we encourage them to remain resolute in this effort. We call on all well-meaning Liberians to support the Government’s fight against drug trafficking and to demonstrate to the international community, development partners, and security partners that Liberia is united in confronting this threat.

Our support, however, comes with a clear call for accountability.

Liberia has heard strong declarations before. The country still remembers the approximately US$100 million cocaine seizure at the Freeport of Monrovia in 2022, a case that generated enormous public attention but left many Liberians questioning the extent to which the broader networks behind the shipment were held accountable.

Large seizures and press conferences are important, but they are not the final measure of success.

What will determine whether this moment is different is whether investigations go beyond couriers and individual suspects to identify the financiers, organizers, facilitators, protectors, and officials who may enable these networks to operate. Success must ultimately be measured by credible investigations, prosecutions, convictions where the evidence supports them, and the dismantling of the networks themselves.

FLY therefore welcomes the work currently being undertaken by the relevant law-enforcement and justice institutions, particularly the Ministry of Justice. Contrary to speculation in certain quarters, the authorities have, to date, given us no basis to doubt their stated commitment to pursuing these cases and ensuring that that responsible face the full weight of Liberian law.

Our support is therefore principled, not unconditional. We will support the process while also insisting that it demonstrate transparency, independence, professionalism, and results.

FLY calls on young people across all 15 counties to become active partners in the national fight against drug trafficking.

We:

• Call on young Liberians nationwide to support the Government’s efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks and to hold accountable any official or individual found to be complicit.

• Call for transparency and due process in the handling of seizures, arrests, investigations, and prosecutions so that public confidence in the process is strengthened.

• Call for investigations to reach every level of the trafficking networks, including financiers, organizers, facilitators, and those who may use their positions or influence to protect criminal operations.

• Call for the continued protection of whistleblowers, witnesses, and cooperating persons in accordance with the Witness Protection Act of 2021, and for appropriate consequences against anyone who unlawfully exposes or compromises their identities.

• Call for the process to remain insulated from political interference, ensuring that no individual is protected from accountability because of political affiliation, wealth, social status, ethnicity, or personal connections.

A national crisis of this magnitude requires more than statements and short-term interventions. It requires sustained youth participation in Liberia’s security and justice discourse.

For this reason, the Federation of Liberian Youth is establishing a National Youth and Security Advisory Council in partnership with the Ministry of Justice.

The Council will bring together representatives from student organizations, political party youth leagues, peacebuilding organizations, faith-based youth structures, grassroots and informal-sector youth groups, civil society, and other youth constituencies from across Liberia.

The Council will provide a structured platform through which young people can raise security and justice concerns, engage relevant institutions, contribute to prevention efforts, and promote accountability.

Youth participation in national security and justice discussions must not begin only when a crisis makes the headlines. Young people must have a permanent and credible channel to engage the institutions responsible for protecting them.

The Council will therefore serve as a bridge between Liberia’s young population and the country’s security and justice institutions, helping to ensure that the current fight against drug trafficking develops into a sustained national effort rather than a temporary response to a national scandal.

In coordination with Liberia’s Witness Protection Agency (WPA), FLY is also establishing a dedicated national youth hotline to enable young people and members of the public to safely provide information and raise concerns relating to the drug crisis.

The hotline will serve two primary purposes:

1. INFORMATION:

Anyone with credible information concerning drug trafficking networks, their activities, facilitators, or related criminal conduct is encouraged to report that information.

2. COMPLAINTS AND CONCERNS:

Young people and members of the public who have concerns about the handling of drug-related cases, including the conduct of officials involved in the process, may also contact FLY through the hotline.

All information received through the hotline will be handled with strict confidentiality and, where applicable, in accordance with the protections provided under Liberia’s Witness Protection Act of 2021.

We urge young people to use this platform responsibly. False information, politically motivated accusations, and deliberate attempts to undermine legitimate investigations will not advance the national interest.

Liberia has confronted and overcome some of the most difficult challenges in its history, including civil war, public-health emergencies, and profound social and economic crises.

The fight against drug trafficking is another defining national challenge.

Whether Liberia succeeds will not be determined by the number of seizures announced or press conferences held. It will be determined by whether the country is able to identify and dismantle the networks behind the drugs, protect those who come forward with credible information, prosecute those responsible, and prevent these networks from rebuilding.

FLY stands with the Liberian institutions and officials who are working honestly and professionally to confront this threat.

We stand with the young people whose lives and communities are being affected by narcotics.

And we stand for a Liberia in which no drug cartel, public official, businessman, political actor, or person of influence is above the law.

The fight against drugs is not the responsibility of the government alone. It is a national fight, and Liberian youth must be part of winning it.