By Odita Sunday
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), has charged investigators and prosecutors of the agency to intensify efforts to trace, seize and recover the proceeds of narcotics trafficking, saying arrests and drug seizures alone are no longer enough to defeat drug cartels.
Marwa gave the charge on Wednesday, 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 in Abuja.
He said drug trafficking should be treated fundamentally as an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and other professional enablers operating behind the movement of illicit drugs.
“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.
The NDLEA boss said criminal organisations were increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth.
He therefore urged investigators and prosecutors to develop the capacity to analyse complex financial transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build strong financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.
Marwa said the agency’s next priority, following its progress in drug seizures and prosecution of traffickers, was to dismantle the economic foundations of the illicit drug trade and make 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,” he said.
He noted that drug trafficking intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime, making sustained cooperation among enforcement institutions essential.
Marwa called for stronger coordination among the NDLEA’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation directorates, saying they must operate as interconnected parts of one enforcement chain.
He also stressed the need for stronger inter-agency collaboration, noting that no single institution has all the information, expertise or capacity required to dismantle sophisticated criminal networks.
Representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and judges of the Federal High Court participated in the programme.
Marwa said their participation would strengthen the connection between investigation, prosecution and adjudication in financial crime cases.
He also warned that asset recovery does not end with seizure or forfeiture, stressing that poor management and lack of transparency could reduce the value of recovered assets and undermine public confidence.
He urged NDLEA officers to ensure accountability from the point of seizure through forfeiture, management and eventual realisation of recovered assets.
In his goodwill message delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, commended Marwa for the strides recorded by the NDLEA under his leadership.
Tsoho said stronger collaboration between the Federal High Court, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies would enhance Nigeria’s standing internationally in the fight against organised crime.
According to him, the programme 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.
“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 stated.
The Chief Judge added that collaboration between the Federal High Court and law enforcement agencies, particularly the NDLEA, “will put this nation on a proper spotlight when it comes to law enforcement in the international circle.”
Marwa expressed confidence that participants would emerge better equipped to “follow the money,” identify illicit assets, strengthen evidence, secure forfeiture and preserve recovered value, thereby depriving drug traffickers and organised criminal networks of the wealth sustaining their operations.
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