Boakai fires LDEA leadership, appoints interim team amid drug crisis

Published: August 28, 2025

MONROVIA — President Joseph N. Boakai has dismissed the top leadership of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA), citing administrative reasons, and appointed an interim team to take charge as his government steps up efforts against the country’s worsening drug problem.

Those relieved of their posts include Director General Anthony K. Souh, Deputy Director General for Administration Gwee K. Porkpah, and Deputy Director General for Operations Sebastian Farr, according to a statement released on Thursday from the Executive Mansion.

The interim management team will be led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Fitzgerald T. M. Biago of the Liberia National Police, who was named officer-in-charge. He will be joined by Ernest T. Tarpeh, Assistant Director for Special Services at the National Security Agency, who will serve as Deputy for Administration and Investigation, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Patrick B. Kormazu of the LNP, who will take over as Deputy for Operations.

The new team is expected to report directly to Justice Minister Oswald Tweh, who will brief the president on the agency’s performance and operations.

President Boakai expressed confidence that the appointees would serve with professionalism and integrity. He described the dismissals as part of his administration’s broader plan to overhaul Liberia’s drug enforcement system and reverse what he called “an unacceptable situation.”

“This action is aimed at strengthening our collective resolve and actions in achieving a country free of illicit drugs and substances,” Boakai said in the statement. “It is a task that the government is committed to sustaining so as to effect a reversal of the current unacceptable situation.”

The president also instructed the Ministry of Justice to carry out a thorough 90-day review of the LDEA’s structure, functions, and operations. He said the review should produce clear recommendations for reform to improve the agency’s effectiveness in fighting drug trafficking and abuse.

Boakai called on the interim leadership to strengthen efforts to prevent the entry of narcotics, break up trafficking networks, and expand programs that tackle substance abuse. He described the spread of drugs as an “existential threat” to Liberia’s youth and a leading cause of crime and social instability.