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NDLEA Chairman, Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), says the agency must move beyond arresting couriers and seizing narcotics to dismantling the financial networks that enable and sustain drug trafficking.
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Marwa directs investigators and prosecutors to trace financiers, money launderers and hidden assets, including wealth concealed through cryptocurrencies, corporate structures and legitimate businesses.
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The NDLEA boss says the ultimate objective is to make narcotics trafficking a “high-risk, low-profit enterprise” by depriving criminal networks of the wealth that motivates and finances their operations.
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Federal High Court Chief Judge, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, backs stronger collaboration between the judiciary, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies to combat sophisticated drug-related financial crimes.
September 02, (THEWILL) — The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has ordered a major expansion of its offensive against narcotics cartels, directing investigators and prosecutors to go after the financiers, money launderers and illicit wealth sustaining the drug trade, declaring that arrests and seizures of narcotics alone are no longer enough.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), gave the directive on Wednesday in Abuja while declaring open an Advanced Capacity Building Programme on Financial Investigations, Asset Tracing, Forfeiture, Recovery and Management of the Proceeds and Instrumentalities of Narcotics Trafficking and Related Organised Crime.
Marwa said the NDLEA must now target the economic foundations of drug trafficking by tracing, seizing and recovering the proceeds and instrumentalities of the criminal enterprise.
He said the depth of participation in the programme demonstrated a shared recognition that drug trafficking was fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind individual drug shipments.
“If we arrest the courier but leave the financier untouched, seize the drugs but allow the proceeds to remain with the criminal enterprise, or secure a conviction without recovering the illicit wealth, we have addressed only part of the problem”, he said.
The NDLEA chairman said the agency’s next imperative, following significant progress in narcotics seizures and prosecution of traffickers, was to dismantle the financial foundations of the drug trade and make narcotics trafficking a “high-risk, low-profit enterprise.”
According to him, organised criminal groups are increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth.
He consequently charged investigators and prosecutors to develop the capacity to analyse complex transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.
“The sophistication of organised crime demands a corresponding sophistication in our response. We must move from crime detection to crime disruption; from arresting offenders to dismantling criminal enterprises; and from confiscating drugs to depriving traffickers of the wealth that motivates and sustains their activities”, Marwa said.
He warned that the drug trafficking ecosystem intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime, making sustained cooperation among law enforcement institutions essential.
Marwa called for stronger synergy among the NDLEA’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation directorates, describing them as interconnected links in a single enforcement chain.
He said the directorates must operate as one agency rather than in isolation, while stressing that no single institution possessed all the information, expertise or capacity required to dismantle sophisticated criminal networks.
The NDLEA boss commended the calibre of resource persons assembled for the programme, including recently retired Circuit Judge at Southwark Crown Court, United Kingdom, Michael Hopmeier; former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN; Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN; Global MLCFT Adviser, Calvin Wilson; and Head of European Operations at Asset Reality, Jason Sandoval, alongside his colleague, Nick Francis.
Others include Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, a cryptocurrency expert and Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform; crypto-police specialist, Chioma Chikelu; and other experts drawn from sister agencies.
Representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ICPC and Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), as well as Judges of the Federal High Court, also participated in the programme.
Marwa said their participation would help strengthen the connection between financial investigation, prosecution and adjudication, particularly in cases involving complex criminal assets.
The NDLEA chairman also cautioned that asset recovery must not end with seizure or forfeiture, warning that poor management and lack of transparency could reduce the value of recovered assets and undermine public confidence in the process. He urged officers to maintain accountability and transparency from the point of seizure through forfeiture, management and eventual realisation of recovered assets.
Marwa further challenged participants to treat the programme as more than a routine training exercise, directing them to ensure that knowledge acquired was shared across the agency and translated into coordinated enforcement operations.
He expressed confidence that participants would emerge better equipped to follow the money, identify hidden assets, strengthen evidence, secure forfeiture, preserve the value of recovered property and ultimately deprive narcotics traffickers and organised criminal networks of the wealth that fuels their operations.
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In a goodwill message delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, commended Marwa for what he described as the significant strides recorded by the NDLEA under his leadership.
Tsoho said closer collaboration between the Federal High Court, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies would strengthen Nigeria’s response to organised crime and improve the country’s standing within the international law enforcement community.
He described the focus of the programme as timely, particularly given the increasingly complex nature of narcotics-related crimes and cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.
“His Lordship, the Chief Judge, expresses his delight to be part of this programme, which is designed to strengthen institutional capacity in financial investigation, asset tracing for future recovery, and management of proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotic trafficking and related crimes, including cybercurrency-enabled money laundering,” he said.
According to him, the subject matter demonstrates how extensive and multifaceted drug crimes have become, as well as their expanding frontiers, requiring sophisticated and coordinated law enforcement responses.
The Chief Judge also commended Marwa for his achievements since assuming leadership of the NDLEA, expressing the belief that sustained collaboration between the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, particularly the NDLEA, would place Nigeria in a stronger position internationally in the fight against organised crime.
Felix Ifijeh is a journalist with years of professional reporting experience. Known for his keen news sense, compelling storytelling and commitment to accurate, impactful reporting, he has built a reputation for turning leads into clear, engaging, and well-structured reports that resonate with readers. His work reflects deep newsroom experience and a commitment to accurate, impactful journalism.
