Liberia hosts regional customs intelligence meeting

Liberia is hosting the 17th annual joint meeting of the World Customs Organization’s Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices for West and Central Africa in Margibi County. This marks the first time Liberia Customs has hosted the event.

During the opening, Prince Mulbah, deputy director general of the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, announced that Liberian security agencies will shift their strategy toward intelligence-led investigations. Rather than focusing solely on the volume of seizures, the Joint Security aims to target the masterminds, financial flows, and logistics behind transnational organized crime networks.

The regional security landscape currently faces challenges including the smuggling of illicit drugs like kush and tramadol, arms and ammunition, counterfeit pharmaceuticals, environmental crime, and illicit financial flows. The Joint Security, which includes the Liberia National Police, Liberia Immigration Service, Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency, Armed Forces of Liberia, National Security Agency, Liberia Customs, and the Presidential Task Force on Illicit Mining, intends to act collectively on intelligence shared through the regional network.