Marwa To NDLEA Investigators: Dismantle Financial Structures Of Drug Cartels

By Adebola Muili

The Chairman/Chief Executive 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 and recover the proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking, declaring that the war against drug cartels cannot be won through arrests and drug seizures alone.

Marwa 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.

He said the agency must shift its focus towards dismantling the financial foundations of drug trafficking by targeting the financiers, facilitators and money launderers who sustain the illicit trade.

According to him, criminal organisations are increasingly using technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth.

“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.

The NDLEA chairman said investigators and prosecutors must therefore be equipped 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 said the agency’s next imperative, following significant progress in narcotics seizures and the prosecution of traffickers, was to dismantle the economic foundations of the drug trade and make narcotics trafficking a “high-risk, low-profit enterprise.”

Marwa said: “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.”

He noted that the drug trafficking ecosystem intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime.

He consequently called for stronger synergy among the NDLEA’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation directorates, stressing that they must operate as interconnected links in a single enforcement chain.

Marwa also urged closer collaboration among law enforcement and justice-sector institutions, noting that no single agency possesses all the information, expertise or capacity required to confront sophisticated criminal networks.

The programme attracted 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.

Marwa said their participation would strengthen the link between investigation, prosecution and adjudication in the fight against organised crime.

He also warned that asset recovery does not end with seizure or forfeiture, stressing that poor management and lack of transparency could diminish the value of recovered assets and undermine public confidence.

The NDLEA boss urged officers to ensure accountability and transparency from the point of seizure through forfeiture, management and eventual realisation of recovered assets.

He charged participants to see the training as more than a routine capacity-building exercise, urging them to share the knowledge acquired across the agency and translate it into coordinated enforcement action.

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 response to drug-related and organised crimes.

He said the programme was designed to strengthen institutional capacity in financial investigation, asset tracing, recovery and management of proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking and related crimes, including cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.

According to him, the increasingly complex nature of drug crimes requires effective and sophisticated law enforcement responses.

Tsoho expressed confidence that closer collaboration between the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, particularly the NDLEA, would help place Nigeria in a better spotlight within the international community.