The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), has ordered the agency to shift its focus toward dismantling the financial networks that sustain drug cartels, rather than measuring success by arrests and drug seizures alone.
Marwa said criminal networks could easily bounce back from losing couriers or shipments if their financiers, money launderers and other facilitators remained untouched. He made the remarks in Abuja on Wednesday while opening a specialised training for investigators and prosecutors on financial investigation, asset tracing, recovery and forfeiture.
“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,” Marwa said.
He warned that traffickers are increasingly exploiting cryptocurrency, layered corporate structures and legitimate-looking businesses to hide their assets, and said NDLEA officers must sharpen their technical skills to trace such proceeds — including across Nigeria’s borders.
“The sophistication of organised crime demands a corresponding sophistication in our response,” he said. “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 also linked drug trafficking to a wider web of organised crime, including corruption, money laundering, cybercrime, human trafficking and illegal arms dealing, and called for tighter coordination among NDLEA’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution and forensic units, as well as with agencies like the EFCC, ICPC and NFIU — all of whom had representatives at the training.
On asset recovery, Marwa cautioned against mismanaging seized property, noting that poor handling could both reduce its value and raise doubts about the integrity of the forfeiture process. He demanded transparency at every stage — from seizure to final disposal.
Experts at the training included retired UK judge Michael Hopmeier, former ICPC chairman Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN), and Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), alongside specialists in cryptocurrency and international asset recovery.
Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, in a message delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, backed closer judiciary-agency cooperation, noting that drug crimes now stretch into financial crime and crypto-enabled money laundering — and commended the NDLEA’s efforts in the fight against organised crime.
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