{"id":18857,"date":"2024-05-29T10:44:44","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T09:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=18857"},"modified":"2024-05-29T10:44:47","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T09:44:47","slug":"son-of-liberias-president-has-not-imported-zombie-drug-into-liberia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/son-of-liberias-president-has-not-imported-zombie-drug-into-liberia\/","title":{"rendered":"Son of Liberia\u2019s president has not imported \u2018Zombie\u2019 drug into Liberia"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim:<\/strong> A Facebook user claims<\/a> Tamba Boakai, a son of Liberian President Joseph Boakai has imported a new breed of hard drug known as \u201cZombie\u201d into Liberia.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Verdict:<\/strong> False. Checks by DUBAWA showed that there is no evidence to support the claim that Mr Boakai\u2019s son, Tamba Boakai, has been involved in the importation of any \u2018zombie\u2019 drug. Also, the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency has described the claim as \u201cfake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text: <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A Facebook account, The Daily News, which claims to be a \u201cmedia\/news company\u201d alleged<\/a> that Tamba Boakai, the Liberian President Joseph Boakai\u2019s son, has imported a new hard drug known as \u201cZombie\u201d into Liberia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing on Facebook on May 6, 2024, the Facebook user said<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c<\/strong>Breaking news! A huge quantity of a new breed of drug in Liberia known as Zombie was brought into the country over the weekend by the son of President Tamba Boakai who goes by the stage name Tan Tan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The writer added:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur source said that Zombie drugs [are more] dangerous than Kush. We need to start praying for our brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamba Boakai is a musician and songwriter in Liberia known as  Tan Tan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA\u2019s checks have shown that the claim surfaced following an online news report about the discovery of a new illicit drug in Liberia<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another Facebook user, Moses Thomas<\/a>, who reacted to the post said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow, the drug war [has] started in Liberia again. Oh God please protect our innocent nation mama Liberia from destruction and bad leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Emmanuel Suah<\/a> who also reacted to the post, he wrote: \u201cWhen you are invited by LDEA to provide evidence you go there [and] don\u2019t say it is a witch hunt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA decided to fact-check the claim’s authenticity as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Liberia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So what is the Zombie Drug?<\/a> This term is used to describe several illegal drugs, such as Tranq, Flakka, and Xylazine. These drugs can lead to zombie-like behaviours and have unpredictable effects on users\u2019 mental and physical health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researcher first proceeded to the <\/strong>Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) in an attempt to gather evidence but the Communication Director of the Agency, Michael Jipply, told DUBAWA that there was no truth in the allegation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is not true, at no point in time was Tan Tan involved in the smuggling or trafficking of any drug,\u201d the Communication Director at the LDEA, Michael Jipply said when contacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Jipply also disputed reports that the \u2018Zombie\u2019 drug is in circulation across the country.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t find it in our local drug market, you will either see it at the zoo or a forest park, where it is used to calm down wild animals,\u201d he told DUBAWA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, when DUBAWA reached out to Tamba Boakai on WhatsApp to get his reaction to the claim, he described it as \u201cfake.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, a Google keyword search conducted by DUBAWA showed no reputable media organisation publishing news reports about the purported importation of the \u2018Zombie\u2019 drug by Tamba Boakai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the political climate in Liberia, the claim would have made headlines in the country if it were true. However, no such data is available online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DUBAWA later contacted the Facebook user with the findings of its investigation; however, as of May 23, 2024, the claimant has yet to respond to the inquiry about the source of the claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Based on DUBAWA\u2019s findings, it is not true that Tamba Boakai, popularly known as Tan Tan, is involved in the importation of the hard drug \u201cZombie\u201d into Liberia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Prime FM 105.5 Liberia, to facilitate the spirit of \u201ctruth\u201d in journalism and enhance media literacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Claim: A Facebook user claims Tamba Boakai, a son of Liberian President Joseph Boakai has imported a new breed of hard drug known as \u201cZombie\u201d into Liberia. Verdict: False. Checks by DUBAWA showed that there is no evidence to support the claim that Mr Boakai\u2019s son, Tamba Boakai, has been involved in the importation of any \u2018zombie\u2019 drug. Also, the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency has described the claim as \u201cfake.\u201d Full Text:  A Facebook account, The Daily News, which claims to be a \u201cmedia\/news company\u201d alleged that Tamba Boakai, the Liberian President Joseph Boakai\u2019s son, has imported a new hard drug known as \u201cZombie\u201d into Liberia. Writing on Facebook on May 6, 2024, the Facebook user said:\u00a0 \u201cBreaking news! A huge quantity of a new breed of drug in Liberia known as Zombie was brought into the country over the weekend by the son of President Tamba Boakai who goes by the stage name Tan Tan.\u201d The writer added: \u201cOur source said that Zombie drugs [are more] dangerous than Kush. We need to start praying for our brothers and sisters.\u201d Tamba Boakai is a musician and songwriter in Liberia known as  Tan Tan. DUBAWA\u2019s checks have shown that the claim surfaced following an online news report about the discovery of a new illicit drug in Liberia. Another Facebook user, Moses Thomas, who reacted to the post said: \u201cWow, the drug war [has] started in Liberia again. Oh God please protect our innocent nation mama Liberia from destruction and bad leaders.\u201d For Emmanuel Suah who also reacted to the post, he wrote: \u201cWhen you are invited by LDEA to provide evidence you go there [and] don\u2019t say it is a witch hunt.\u201d DUBAWA decided to fact-check the claim’s authenticity as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Liberia. Verification So what is the Zombie Drug? This term is used to describe several illegal drugs, such as Tranq, Flakka, and Xylazine. These drugs can lead to zombie-like behaviours and have unpredictable effects on users\u2019 mental and physical health. The researcher first proceeded to the Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) in an attempt to gather evidence but the Communication Director of the Agency, Michael Jipply, told DUBAWA that there was no truth in the allegation. \u201cIt is not true, at no point in time was Tan Tan involved in the smuggling or trafficking of any drug,\u201d the Communication Director at the LDEA, Michael Jipply said when contacted. Mr Jipply also disputed reports that the \u2018Zombie\u2019 drug is in circulation across the country.   \u201cWe can\u2019t find it in our local drug market, you will either see it at the zoo or a forest park, where it is used to calm down wild animals,\u201d he told DUBAWA. In addition, when DUBAWA reached out to Tamba Boakai on WhatsApp to get his reaction to the claim, he described it as \u201cfake.\u201d Also, a Google keyword search conducted by DUBAWA showed no reputable media organisation publishing news reports about the purported importation of the \u2018Zombie\u2019 drug by Tamba Boakai. Considering the political climate in Liberia, the claim would have made headlines in the country if it were true. However, no such data is available online. DUBAWA later contacted the Facebook user with the findings of its investigation; however, as of May 23, 2024, the claimant has yet to respond to the inquiry about the source of the claim. Conclusion Based on DUBAWA\u2019s findings, it is not true that Tamba Boakai, popularly known as Tan Tan, is involved in the importation of the hard drug \u201cZombie\u201d into Liberia. The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Prime FM 105.5 Liberia, to facilitate the spirit of \u201ctruth\u201d in journalism and enhance media literacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1571,437,4,3812,121,3815,1960,16],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[3777,4091],"class_list":["post-18857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-check","category-facebook-checks","category-featured","category-headline","category-health","category-homepage","category-liberia","category-politics"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-4U9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3777,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"varney-dukuly","display_name":"Varney Dukuly","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""},{"term_id":4091,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"lee-monjue","display_name":"Lee Monjue","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Image-Source-Whatsapp-Tamba-Boakai-Tan-Tan.png?fit=512%2C512&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18861,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18857\/revisions\/18861"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18857"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=18857"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=18857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}