Marwa Orders NDLEA Investigators to Dismantle Financial Structures of Drug Cartels
Marwa and the investigators in Abuja [File Source: NDLEA Facebook Page]
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), has directed investigators and prosecutors of the agency to intensify efforts to trace, seize and recover the proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking.
Marwa 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.
He 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 drug trafficking.
According to him, drug trafficking is fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind drug shipments.
“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.
He noted that criminal organisations were increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth.
The NDLEA boss 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 cases capable of supporting asset forfeiture and recovery.
Marwa said the agency’s next priority, following progress in narcotics seizures and the prosecution of traffickers, was to dismantle the economic foundations of the drug trade and make trafficking a high-risk, low-profit enterprise.
He also called for stronger collaboration among the NDLEA’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensic, asset and financial investigation directorates, describing them as interconnected links in the enforcement chain.
The NDLEA chairman further advocated stronger inter-agency cooperation, noting that no single institution possesses all the information, expertise and capacity required to effectively confront sophisticated criminal networks.
He said the threat posed by drug trafficking intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime, making sustained cooperation among law enforcement agencies essential.
The programme attracted resource persons and experts, including Hon. Justice Michael H. Pompier, a recently retired Circuit Judge at Southwark Crown Court in the United Kingdom; Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, former Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); and Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation.
Other experts included Calvin Wilson, Global MLCT adviser; Jason Sandoval, Head of European Operations at Asset Reality; Nick Francis; Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, a cryptocurrency expert and Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform; and Chioma Chikuli, a crypto-policy specialist.
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, commended Marwa and the NDLEA for their efforts, particularly the agency’s collaboration with the judiciary and other law enforcement bodies.
Tsoho said such collaboration would strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to tackle increasingly sophisticated drug-related crimes and place the country in a stronger position within the international law-enforcement community.
