Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), has directed investigators and prosecutors of the agency to intensify efforts to trace, seize and recover proceeds and other assets linked to narcotics trafficking.
Marwa said the fight against drug cartels could no longer be won through arrests and drug seizures alone, stressing that the financial structures sustaining criminal networks must also be dismantled.
He spoke on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, while declaring open an advanced capacity-building programme on financial investigations, asset tracing, forfeiture, recovery and management of proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking and related organised crime in Abuja.
In his remarks, the NDLEA chairman said the programme reflected a growing understanding that drug trafficking was fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind 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.
Marwa noted that criminal organisations were increasingly using technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth.
He said the NDLEA’s response must therefore become equally sophisticated by equipping investigators and prosecutors to analyse complex transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.
According to him, after making significant progress in the seizure of narcotics and prosecution of traffickers, the agency’s next priority should be dismantling the economic foundations of the drug trade and making narcotics trafficking a high-risk, low-profit enterprise.
“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 observed that the drug trafficking ecosystem intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime.
“These intersections make sustained cooperation, within the NDLEA and among our partner institutions, not merely desirable, but indispensable,” he added.
Marwa called for stronger cooperation among the agency’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation directorates, describing them as interconnected links in a single enforcement chain.
He said the various units must work as one agency rather than in isolation while also strengthening collaboration with other law enforcement institutions.
“No single institution possesses all the information, expertise or capacity required to confront sophisticated criminal networks,” he said.
The NDLEA chairman commended the calibre of resource persons participating in the programme, including Justice Michael Hopmeier, recently retired Circuit Judge at Southwark Crown Court in the United Kingdom; Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); and Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation.
Others include Calvin Wilson, Global MLCFT Adviser; Jason Sandoval, Head of European Operations at Asset Reality, and his colleague, Nick Francis; Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, cryptocurrency expert and Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform; and Chioma Chikelu, a crypto-police specialist, among others.
He also welcomed 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.
Marwa said their participation would strengthen the connection between investigation, prosecution and adjudication in tackling financial crimes associated with drug trafficking.
The NDLEA chairman cautioned that asset recovery does not end with seizure or forfeiture, warning that poor management and a lack of transparency could reduce the value of recovered assets and undermine public confidence in the process.
He urged participants to ensure accountability and transparency from the point of seizure through forfeiture, management and eventual realisation of recovered assets.
Marwa charged the officers to treat the programme as an opportunity to strengthen the NDLEA’s collective capacity rather than as routine training.
He said knowledge gained from the programme should be shared across directorates and converted into coordinated action that would enable the agency to follow the money, identify assets, strengthen evidence, secure forfeiture and preserve the value of recovered assets.
Meanwhile, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, commended the NDLEA for its achievements under Marwa and called for stronger collaboration between the court and law enforcement agencies.
Tsoho, whose goodwill message was delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, said closer cooperation between the Federal High Court, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies would enhance Nigeria’s standing within the international community.
According to him, the training was designed to strengthen institutional capacity in financial investigation, asset tracing, recovery and management of proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking and related crimes, including cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.
He described drug-related crimes as extensive and multifaceted, with constantly expanding frontiers that require effective and sophisticated law enforcement responses.
“His Lordship appreciates and commends you, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, for your commendable strides since the assumption of office as the Chairman and Chief Executive,” the message said.
Tsoho expressed confidence that closer collaboration between the Federal High Court and law enforcement agencies, particularly the NDLEA, would further strengthen Nigeria’s law enforcement record internationally.
Source: NDLEA
