POLICE BURNS US $2M DRUGS ...CALLS FOR RIGID DRUG LAWS

The Liberia National Police on Friday burned more than $2million US
worth of illicit and dangerous drugs, including heroine, cocaine and
marijuana.

At the burning ceremony at the National Police Headquarters on Capitol
Hill, Police Director Paul Mulbah called upon the National Legislature
to pass rigid and stringent laws against illicit drugs in society.

He said otherwise, "drugs will continue to haunt us, destroy our
society and take us down the drain."

The police chief appeal comes in the wake of the submission of a bill
to the Legislature for the enactment of tough laws against the sale
and usage of illegal drugs in society.

"Laws governing drugs enforcement are so lenient that even if you
arrest a man today tomorrow he is out in the street selling drugs only
by filling a L$1,000 bond," Director Mulbah told the gathering, which
included Vice President Moses Z. Blah.

He stated that the arrest of the drugs in Monrovia and its environs
was made less than two months following the setting up of the National
Drug Task Force by government.

The Police Director, among other things, appealed to the international
community to join the National Drug Task Force in the fight against
drugs, adding "we need ... logistics ... to empower ... us ... to
fight against these dangerous drugs that are killing our society."

He reiterated that the fight against drugs is a challenge because "it
is destroying our youth, including professional people, and except we
take some very serious measures as a country and as a people, the drug
war would be more than the rebel war."

In later remarks, the Deputy Chief of the Anti Drug Section of the
Police, Sebastian A. Gibson, disclosed that the drugs were seized from
78 persons of different groups.

As the result of the anti drug war, Col. Gibson said, ten Nigerians
who were recently arrested have been deported, while 72 potential
users, as well as five major dealers are presently behind bars
awaiting prosecution.

He told reporters that the quantity of drugs burned was about 15.2
kilograms.

Among others who watched the drugs burning ceremony were the Minister
of Information, the Director of the National Bureau of Investigation,
a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice, as well as
representatives of the American Embassy and UNDP.