The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), has charged 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 cartels could no longer be won through arrests and drug seizures alone, stressing the need to dismantle the financial structures that sustain organised criminal networks.
He gave the charge on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, 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.
The NDLEA boss said drug trafficking is fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind drug shipments.
He noted that arresting couriers without going after financiers, or seizing drugs without recovering the proceeds of criminal activities, would only address part of the problem.
Marwa urged NDLEA personnel 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.
He also warned that criminal organisations are increasingly using technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal illicit wealth.
According to him, the agency’s priority must now shift from merely detecting crime to disrupting criminal enterprises and making narcotics trafficking a high-risk, low-profit venture.
“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 called for stronger collaboration among the NDLEA’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation directorates, stressing that they must operate as interconnected parts of a single enforcement chain.
Marwa also advocated greater inter-agency cooperation, noting that no single institution possesses all the information, expertise and capacity required to tackle 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), as well as judges of the Federal High Court, participated in the programme.
The NDLEA chairman further cautioned that asset recovery does not end with seizure or forfeiture, warning that poor management and lack of transparency could reduce the value of recovered assets and undermine public confidence.
Meanwhile, 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, whose goodwill message was delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, said stronger collaboration between the Federal High Court, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies would enhance Nigeria’s standing in the international law enforcement community.
He described the training programme as timely, particularly given the increasingly sophisticated nature of drug-related crimes, including cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.
The Chief Judge stressed that the expanding frontiers of drug crimes require sophisticated and effective law enforcement responses.
He expressed confidence that closer cooperation between the judiciary and law enforcement agencies would strengthen financial investigations, asset tracing, recovery and prosecution of narcotics-related crimes.
