Drug Barons Must Lose Their Wealth to Be Defeated, Marwa Declares at Cambridge
…Outlines Nigeria’s asset recovery strategy as Agency freezes over $7 million in accounts and targets multibillion-naira criminal assets
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), has declared that the global war against drug trafficking cannot be won through arrests and convictions alone, insisting that drug barons must also be stripped of the wealth generated from their criminal activities.
Marwa made the declaration while addressing an international gathering of judges, law enforcement chiefs, financial intelligence experts and academics at the ongoing 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in the United Kingdom.
Speaking on the topic, “Criminal Property and the Criminal Process: How Can We Make It More Effective?”, the NDLEA chairman said the effectiveness of the criminal justice system should not be judged solely by the number of convictions secured, but also by its ability to make criminal activities unprofitable.
The symposium is organised by the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge. According to Marwa, a drug trafficker who is imprisoned but retains the fortune accumulated from illicit activities has not been completely defeated, as such wealth could be used to finance fresh criminal operations, support associates and sustain the wider criminal enterprise.
“The effectiveness of the criminal process should not be measured only by the number of convictions secured. It should also be measured by whether crime is made unprofitable,” Marwa told the global audience.
“A trafficker who loses his liberty but retains his fortune has not truly been defeated. His wealth can finance another operation, support his associates and sustain the criminal enterprise.”
He stressed that the ultimate objective of law enforcement agencies must be to promptly and lawfully deny criminals the proceeds of their crimes while ensuring that the value of recovered property is preserved.
“Nigeria, through the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, will continue to strengthen this approach,” he added.
Addressing the session chaired by Honourable Judge Wendy Tien, Marwa likened the arrest of a drug trafficker without dismantling his financial empire to pruning a weed at the stem while leaving its roots intact.
He warned that illicit wealth left untouched could easily re-emerge under another identity, through a different front company or in another jurisdiction.
The NDLEA boss outlined six practical strategies adopted by the Agency to strengthen asset recovery in the fight against drug trafficking and related organised crime.
He said the strategies were anchored on provisions of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act 2004, the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022 and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.
Marwa cited the forfeiture of the Hook Hotel, a property linked to a fugitive drug suspect, as one of the examples demonstrating the effectiveness of Nigeria’s asset recovery framework.
According to him, the property was recovered through a non-conviction-based forfeiture process and subsequently sold for $4.2 million, with the proceeds paid into the Federal Government’s forfeited assets account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The development, he said, demonstrated that a fugitive suspect could not simply evade arrest and continue to enjoy the benefits of proceeds derived from criminal activities.
Marwa also disclosed that the NDLEA had introduced reforms aimed at ensuring closer collaboration between investigators and prosecutors from the earliest stages of criminal investigations.
Under the arrangement, investigators and prosecutors are now embedded together from the inception of cases, a measure he said had significantly shortened the period between the arrest of suspects and the securing of restraint orders against their assets.
He revealed that in the previous month alone, the Agency froze bank accounts containing more than $7 million and secured interim forfeiture orders covering assets worth several billions of naira.
The affected properties, according to him, included filling stations, multi-storey buildings and exotic vehicles allegedly linked to a fugitive methamphetamine syndicate.
Marwa further highlighted what he described as a landmark international case involving Nigerian billionaire and suspected drug baron, Amadi Simon, who was arrested in Switzerland following a joint operation involving the NDLEA, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and authorities in Switzerland, Greece and France.
He explained that three hotels linked to the suspect were placed under the management of professional asset managers instead of being shut down.
The decision, he said, was aimed at preserving the value of the businesses as going concerns pending the conclusion of the criminal trial.
According to Marwa, allowing such assets to remain operational under professional management prevents their value from deteriorating and ensures that the State does not inadvertently destroy assets it seeks to preserve for possible final forfeiture.
He also highlighted the NDLEA’s increasing reliance on legal provisions dealing with unexplained wealth and lifestyles inconsistent with legitimate sources of income as important investigative tools.
The Agency, he said, had also adopted the interlocutory sale of perishable and rapidly depreciating assets in appropriate circumstances to prevent their value from being lost while cases were still pending before the courts.
Marwa said Nigeria had now institutionalised the financial disruption of drug trafficking organisations through the National Drug Control Master Plan 2026–2030.
He said the inclusion of asset recovery and financial disruption measures in the national strategy would ensure that the effort to dismantle the financial architecture of drug cartels remained a sustained national priority rather than being pursued through isolated cases.
Distilling Nigeria’s experience into three guiding principles, the NDLEA chairman identified speed over sequence, preservation of value and institutionalisation as critical to effective asset recovery.
He, however, acknowledged that significant challenges remained, particularly delays associated with mutual legal assistance between countries, limited forensic accounting capacity and the need to balance the rights of accused persons with the responsibility of the State to preserve assets pending the conclusion of criminal trials.
Marwa called for faster and more efficient international cooperation mechanisms, particularly in cases involving assets and criminal networks operating across multiple jurisdictions.
He also urged stronger cross-border recognition of non-conviction-based forfeiture orders, noting that drug trafficking and organised crime had become increasingly international and required a coordinated global response.
The NDLEA boss thanked the Centre for Geopolitics, organisers of the Cambridge symposium and Judge Wendy Tien for providing the platform to share Nigeria’s experience.
He reaffirmed the Agency’s readiness to deepen collaboration with governments, law enforcement agencies, financial intelligence institutions and other organisations committed to dismantling the financial networks sustaining drug trafficking across the world.
Marwa maintained that depriving traffickers of their illicit wealth was essential to breaking the cycle of organised crime, insisting that arrests alone could not deliver a lasting victory if criminal organisations were allowed to retain the financial resources needed to rebuild their operations.
