Drug Addicts, Crimes Overwhelm Margibi

Drug addicts (dealers or users) coupled with criminal activities, linking many young people is overwhelming the central Liberian town of Margibi County with calls for state security forces to intervene immediately.

Kakata City Mayor Eddie Murphy and Commerce Ministry local staff, Dauda Massaquoi, raised alarm recently in the county. According to both men, the situation was rapidly spreading to every part of the county thus, putting the lives of peaceful residents at risk.

Mayor Murphy said many youth in the county are being linked to criminal activities because they have become users of narcotic drugs. Murphy, who wants young people to desist from the ugly act, said if the they want to have better future the only option is to abandon drugs.

For his part, Massaquoi noted that the use of narcotic drugs by many young people was largely responsible for most criminal activities in Margibi County and elsewhere in the country. He stressed a need for state security, mainly the Drug Enforcement Agency and the police to beef-up effort to arrest the situation.

Since this year, several suspects linked to drug dealing, usage and other criminal activities have been arrested in the county. Several public and private buildings have been broken into while innocent lives taken away as a result of drugs related activities.

Surveys conducted here indicate that Margibi, Bong, Nimba, Lofa and Grand Bassa Counties are major breeding grounds and transit centers for marijuana and other harmful substances to Monrovia.