NDLEA Moves to Dismantle Financial Structures of Drug Cartels, Marwa Charges Investigators

The Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), has directed investigators and prosecutors of the agency to intensify efforts to trace, seize and recover the proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking.

Marwa said the fight against drug trafficking could no longer be won through arrests and drug seizures alone, stressing the need to attack the financial foundations that sustain organised criminal networks.

He gave the charge on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, 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.

The programme brought together NDLEA investigators and prosecutors, judges of the Federal High Court, and representatives of other law enforcement and financial intelligence agencies.

Marwa said the level of participation demonstrated a growing understanding that drug trafficking was fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind individual consignments of narcotics.

He said arresting couriers and confiscating drugs without going after the financiers and the wealth generated from trafficking would only address part of the problem.

“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.

According to him, criminal organisations are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to conceal illicit wealth, exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to disguise the ownership and origins of criminal proceeds.

He therefore called for an equally sophisticated response from the NDLEA, saying investigators and prosecutors must be able to analyse complex financial transactions, trace assets across jurisdictions, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build strong financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.

Marwa said that having recorded significant progress in the seizure of narcotics and prosecution of traffickers, the agency’s next priority must be to dismantle the economic foundations of the drug trade.

He said the objective was to transform narcotics trafficking into a high-risk and low-profit enterprise by ensuring that criminals could not retain the wealth generated from their activities.

“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 noted that the drug trafficking ecosystem was closely connected to other forms of organised crime, including money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking and illicit arms trafficking.

These linkages, he said, made sustained cooperation within the NDLEA and among relevant government institutions essential to tackling sophisticated criminal networks.

Marwa consequently urged greater coordination among the agency’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation directorates.

He described the directorates as interconnected links in a single enforcement chain, saying they must operate as one agency rather than as separate units.

The NDLEA boss also stressed the importance of inter-agency cooperation, noting that no single institution possessed all the information, expertise and resources required to dismantle sophisticated criminal organisations.

He commended the calibre of experts participating in the training, including recently retired Circuit Judge at Southwark Crown Court in the United Kingdom, Hon. Judge Michael Hopmeier; former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN; and Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.

Others included Calvin Wilson, Global MLCFT Adviser; Jason Sandoval, Head of European Operations at Asset Reality, and Nick Francis; Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, cryptocurrency expert and Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform; and crypto-police specialist, Chioma Chikelu.

Representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ICPC and Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), alongside judges of the Federal High Court, also participated in the programme.

Marwa said the participation of the institutions and judicial officers would strengthen the connection between investigation, prosecution and adjudication in cases involving narcotics trafficking and financial crimes.

He further cautioned that asset recovery did not end with seizure or forfeiture, stressing that poor management and lack of transparency could reduce the value of recovered assets and erode public confidence in the recovery process.

He called for accountability and transparency throughout the entire asset recovery chain, from seizure and forfeiture to management and eventual realisation of recovered assets.

The NDLEA chairman urged participants to regard the programme as more than a routine training exercise, but as an opportunity to strengthen the collective capacity of the agency.

He said knowledge acquired during the programme should be shared across directorates and translated into coordinated operational action.

Marwa expressed confidence that participants would emerge better equipped to “follow the money”, identify illicit assets, strengthen financial evidence, secure forfeiture orders, preserve the value of recovered assets and ultimately deprive drug traffickers and organised criminal networks of the funds sustaining their operations.

In a goodwill message delivered on his behalf by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, commended Marwa for what he described as the significant strides recorded by the NDLEA under his leadership.

Tsoho said stronger collaboration between the Federal High Court, the NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies would enhance Nigeria’s standing within the international law enforcement community.

He described the training as timely, given the increasingly complex nature of drug-related crimes and their links with financial crimes and emerging technologies.

“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 of the training demonstrated how extensive and multifaceted drug crimes had become, particularly as criminal networks continued to exploit new technologies and expand into emerging areas.

He said the changing nature of narcotics-related crimes required effective and sophisticated law enforcement strategies capable of responding to their expanding frontiers.

Tsoho also commended Marwa for his achievements since assuming leadership of the NDLEA, while emphasising the importance of sustained institutional cooperation.

He said collaboration between the Federal High Court and law enforcement agencies, particularly the NDLEA, would help strengthen Nigeria’s credibility in international law enforcement circles.

The Chief Judge’s position reinforces the growing emphasis on financial investigations, asset tracing and forfeiture as critical components of Nigeria’s broader strategy against drug trafficking and organised crime.