Marwa Charges NDLEA Investigators to Dismantle Financial Structures of Drug Cartels

By: Michael Mike

The Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen.Buba Marwa (Retd.), has charged investigators and prosecutors of the agency to intensify efforts at tracing, seizing and recovering the proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking, saying the war against drug cartels can no longer be won through arrests and drug seizures alone.

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.

The NDLEA chairman said drug trafficking was fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind drug shipments, stressing that law enforcement efforts must therefore go beyond intercepting narcotics and arresting couriers.

“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.

Marwa observed that criminal organisations were increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth. He consequently urged NDLEA investigators and prosecutors to develop the capacity to analyse complex transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build financial cases capable of securing forfeiture and recovery.

He said that having recorded significant progress in narcotics seizures and prosecution of traffickers, the Agency’s next imperative was to dismantle the economic foundations of the 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,” Marwa said.

He noted that the drug trafficking ecosystem intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime, making sustained cooperation within the NDLEA and among partner institutions indispensable.

Marwa called for stronger synergy among the Agency’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensic, asset and financial investigation directorates, describing them as interconnected links in a single enforcement chain that must work together rather than in isolation. He similarly stressed the importance of inter-agency collaboration, noting that no single institution possesses all the information, expertise and capacity required to confront sophisticated criminal networks.

The NDLEA boss commended the calibre of resource persons participating in the programme, including retired Circuit Judge at Southwark Crown Court, United Kingdom, Hon. Judge Michael Hopmeier; former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN; Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN; Global MLCFT adviser, Calvin Wilson; Head of European Operations at Asset Reality, Jason Sandoval, and his colleague, Nick Francis.

Others include cryptocurrency expert and Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform, Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, and crypto-police specialist, Chioma Chikelu, alongside other resource persons drawn from sister agencies.

He also welcomed representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ICPC and Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), as well as judges of the Federal High Court, saying their participation would strengthen the link between investigation, prosecution and adjudication.

Marwa cautioned that asset recovery does not end with seizure or forfeiture, warning that poor management and lack of transparency could diminish the value of recovered assets and undermine public confidence in the recovery process. He therefore called for accountability and transparency from the point of seizure through forfeiture, management and eventual realisation of recovered assets.

He urged participants to see the programme as more than a routine training, but as an opportunity to strengthen the NDLEA’s collective capacity, stressing that knowledge acquired must be shared across directorates and translated into coordinated enforcement action.

He expressed confidence that the training would equip participants to follow the money, identify and trace illicit assets, strengthen evidence, secure forfeiture, preserve the value of recovered assets and ultimately deprive narcotics traffickers and organised criminal networks of the proceeds that fuel their operations.

In a goodwill message delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, commended Marwa for the strides recorded by the NDLEA under his leadership and expressed support for stronger collaboration between the judiciary and law enforcement agencies.

Tsoho described the training as timely, noting that the theme reflected the extensive and multifaceted nature of drug-related crimes and their expanding frontiers, including cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.

The Chief Judge said effective and sophisticated law enforcement was required to confront the evolving threat and expressed the belief that greater collaboration between the Federal High Court, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies would enhance Nigeria’s reputation in the international community.

“His Lordship believes that collaboration between the Federal High Court and law enforcement agencies, especially the NDLEA, will put this nation on a proper spotlight when it comes to law enforcement in the international circle,” he said.

Marwa Charges NDLEA Investigators to Dismantle Financial Structures of Drug Cartels