25/09/2026
COMBATING SUBSTANCE ABUSE:
TACKLING THE NATIONAL DRUG CRISIS THAT THREATENS COMMUNITY SAFETY AND STABILITY IN LIBERIA
YWCA Compound, National Headquarters
Friday, September 25, 2026
10:00 am
By T. Nelson Williams, II
Chief Commissioner, Deputy Chief Commissioner, Officers and Members of the Liberia Scout Association
Distinguished Government Officials,
Religious Leaders,
Civil Society Organizations,
Development Partners,
The Clergy
Parents, Young People,
Members of the Media,
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good morning,
I am honored to speak about one of the most serious threats facing our nation today: substance abuse and the growing drug crisis in Liberia.
This is not simply a problem for the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency. It is not simply a problem for the police, the courts, the Ministry of Health, schools, churches, mosques, parents, or communities.
It is a national problem—and it requires a national response.
The drug crisis is affecting our streets, homes, schools, workplaces, economy, security, and, most importantly, our young people.
In 2021, I lost a family member to drugs right here in Liberia. So, when I speak about this crisis, I speak from personal experience.
Liberia declared drug abuse a public health emergency in 2024, recognizing the seriousness of the growing Kush and substance-abuse crisis. According to the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, approximately one in five young people in Liberia is using illicit drugs, while more than 800 drug-use hubs or “drug dens” have been identified across Monrovia.
More recently, between September 2025 and June 22, 2026, the LDEA reportedly arrested 1,167 people on allegations of drug trafficking, while only eight convictions had been recorded during that period. This gap raises serious questions about investigation, evidence management, prosecution, judicial capacity, and institutional integrity.
At the same time, Liberia is confronting increasingly sophisticated international trafficking networks. In June 2026, authorities seized approximately 237.6 kilograms of co***ne at Roberts International Airport, reportedly valued at more than US$19 million.
In July, authorities announced the seizure of approximately 3,971 kilograms of co***ne in Duazon, with an estimated street value of about US$317 million, followed by the destruction of approximately 4.2 metric tons of co***ne. These events demonstrate that Liberia's challenge is not only drug consumption—it is also an increasingly sophisticated trafficking economy.
We are potentially dealing with international suppliers, financiers, transporters, distributors, local dealers, money launderers, corrupt officials, and vulnerable young people recruited at the bottom of the chain.
That requires a comprehensive national strategy.
THE ROOTS OF THE CRISIS
If we are serious about solving this problem, we must address its underlying causes.
They include:
• Youth unemployment and poverty;
• School dropout and limited educational opportunities;
• Broken family structures and peer pressure;
• Social isolation and trauma;
• Lack of recreational and youth-development programs;
• Easy access to illicit drugs;
• Cross-border trafficking;
• Corruption and weak law-enforcement capacity; and
• Insufficient affordable rehabilitation services.
Therefore, our response must attack both the supply of drugs and the demand for drugs.
And we must recognize an important distinction: a person suffering from addiction needs help; a trafficker who deliberately profits from destroying communities must face the full force of the law.
A young person struggling with addiction needs intervention, treatment, rehabilitation, counseling, family support, skills development, and an opportunity to rebuild his or her life.
Liberia cannot arrest its way out of this crisis.
Enforcement is necessary—but enforcement alone will not solve the problem.
We must prevent, protect, treat, rehabilitate, reintegrate—and prosecute.
TEN PRIORITIES FOR A NATIONAL RESPONSE
1. Establish a National Drug Crisis Coordination Mechanism
Government agencies, including LDEA, the Liberia National Police, Ministries of Health, Justice, Education, Youth and Sports, and Gender, must work with local government, civil society, religious organizations, traditional leaders, the private sector, and development partners.
The problem crosses institutional boundaries. Our response must do the same.
2. Build a Sustained National Prevention Campaign
Drug prevention must begin in schools and extend into universities, communities, workplaces, churches, mosques, youth organizations, sports programs, and correctional institutions.
Young people need to understand not only that drugs are dangerous, but also how addiction develops, how to resist peer pressure, where to seek help, and how to support someone who is struggling.
3. Expand Treatment and Community-Based Rehabilitation
Liberia urgently needs accessible treatment and rehabilitation services that include medical assessment, detoxification, counseling, addiction treatment, mental-health support, family counseling, vocational training, life skills, and reintegration.
Treatment cannot be available only to those who can afford private services.
4. Connect Recovery to Skills and Employment
Recovery without opportunity is incomplete.
A young person who leaves rehabilitation and returns to unemployment, poverty, and the same environment may easily relapse.
We should connect rehabilitation with vocational training, apprenticeships, entrepreneurship, agriculture, technology, construction, hospitality, transportation, and other employment opportunities.
The private sector must be part of this solution.
5. Strengthen Drug Intelligence and Border Security
The recent co***ne seizures demonstrate the need for stronger airport screening, port security, customs intelligence, maritime surveillance, border controls, financial investigations, cyber intelligence, and inter-agency information sharing.
Liberia must also strengthen cooperation with ECOWAS, Interpol, and international law-enforcement partners.
6. Follow the Money
Drug trafficking is a business.
Therefore, we must attack the money.
We must determine:
Who finances the operation? Who launders the money? Who provides transportation? Who provides safe houses? Who facilitates cross-border movement? And who protects the traffickers?
Drug enforcement must go beyond the person carrying the package and pursue the financiers and networks behind the trade.
7. Strengthen Prosecution and Judicial Capacity
The gap between arrests and convictions demands attention.
Liberia needs stronger narcotics prosecution, improved evidence management, forensic capacity, witness protection, case tracking, and judicial training.
At the same time, due process must be protected.
Justice must be both firm and fair.
8. Fight Corruption Within the Drug-Enforcement System
We cannot effectively fight the drug trade if individuals entrusted with fighting it become involved in it.
We need integrity screening, asset declarations, rotation of sensitive assignments, independent investigations, whistleblower protection, strong disciplinary systems, and prosecution of officials who facilitate narcotics trafficking.
No uniform, position, political connection, or social status should place anyone above the law.
9. Mobilize Families and Communities
Government cannot do this alone.
Parents, schools, religious institutions, traditional leaders, youth organizations, women's organizations, businesses, sports associations, and community groups all have a role.
Every community should know:
Where are the drug hotspots?
Who are the vulnerable young people?
Where can someone receive treatment?
Who can a family call for help?
10. Measure Results—Not Just Activities
We must move from announcing programs to measuring outcomes.
We should track drug prevalence, drug-use hotspots, major trafficker arrests, successful prosecutions, seizures, assets confiscated, people receiving treatment, rehabilitation completion, relapse, school retention, employment after rehabilitation, drug-related crime, and drug-related deaths.
What gets measured gets managed.
A CALL TO ACTION
To the Private Sector
Businesses have a critical role. Drug abuse affects productivity, absenteeism, workplace safety, employee health, family income, and the business environment.
Companies should establish workplace substance-abuse policies, employee assistance programs, counseling referrals, and prevention programs.
Most importantly, businesses should help create employment opportunities for people who have successfully completed rehabilitation.
A person in recovery needs a second chance. Employment can be part of that second chance.
To Parents
Do not wait until your child is arrested or drops out of school.
Talk to your children. Know their friends. Know where they spend their time. Watch for changes in behavior.
Most importantly, create an environment where a young person can ask for help without immediately being condemned.
Our children need discipline—but they also need love, guidance, supervision, and hope.
To Our Young People
You are not the problem. You are part of the solution.
Do not allow drugs to steal your future.
Liberia has challenges—unemployment, poverty, frustration, and inequality—but drugs will not solve them.
We must build a Liberia where young people have alternatives:
Education. Skills. Sports. Technology. Entrepreneurship. Employment. Leadership. Purpose. Hope.
A NATIONAL COMPACT AGAINST SUBSTANCE ABUSE
I propose that Liberia develop a National Compact Against Substance Abuse, bringing together government, communities, businesses, civil society, religious institutions, traditional leaders, international partners, and young people.
This Compact should be built around five commitments:
PREVENTION — Stop young people from starting.
PROTECTION — Protect communities from traffickers and drug-related crime.
TREATMENT — Help people struggling with addiction.
REINTEGRATION — Give recovering individuals education, skills, employment, and dignity.
PROSECUTION — Pursue major traffickers, financiers, money launderers, and corrupt facilitators.
These five pillars must operate together.
If we focus only on prosecution, the market will regenerate.
If we focus only on treatment, the supply will continue.
If we focus only on prevention, existing addiction will remain untreated.
If we focus only on employment, criminal networks will continue recruiting.
We need all five.
CONCLUSION
Ladies and gentlemen,
Liberia has overcome enormous challenges before. We have survived war, Ebola, and the Covid-19 crises. We have rebuilt institutions and demonstrated extraordinary resilience.
We can confront this crisis too.
But we must recognize that the drug crisis is not somebody else's problem.
It is the problem of government.
It is the problem of communities and families.
It is the problem of schools and workplaces.
It is the problem of the faith community and security sector.
And it is the responsibility of every citizen who wants a safer and more prosperous Liberia.
Recent events—from the widespread Kush crisis to the massive co***ne seizures—demonstrate that the threat is real and evolving.
But statistics should not make us hopeless.
They should make us determined.
Every young person we prevent from becoming addicted is a victory.
Every person we help recover is a victory.
Every trafficker successfully prosecuted is a victory.
Every community we make safer is a victory.
Every family we save is a victory.
And every young Liberian who chooses education, work, service, and purpose over drugs represents a victory for our nation.
Let us therefore move:
from reaction to prevention,
from arrest to rehabilitation,
from fragmented programs to coordinated action,
and from short-term campaigns to a sustained national strategy.
Let us protect our communities.
Let us strengthen our institutions.
Let us support families.
Let us hold traffickers accountable.
And let us give our young people something more powerful than drugs:
Hope. Opportunity. Purpose. And a future.
The time to act is now.
Thank you, and may God bless the Liberia Scout Association, our young people, our communities, and the Republic of Liberia.
