The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, is intensifying its war against drug trafficking by targeting the financiers and illicit wealth behind drug cartels, as its Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd.), directs investigators and prosecutors to follow the money and dismantle the financial structures sustaining the criminal trade.
Marwa said arrests and seizures of narcotics alone are no longer enough to defeat sophisticated drug trafficking networks, stressing that the proceeds and instrumentalities of the illicit trade must also be traced, seized and recovered.
He gave the charge on Wednesday in Abuja while declaring open a three-day 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.
The NDLEA Chairman described drug trafficking as fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind drug shipments.
He said arresting a courier while leaving the financier untouched, or seizing drugs while allowing the proceeds to remain with the criminal enterprise, only addresses part of the problem.
Marwa noted that criminal organisations are increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth.
He therefore charged investigators and prosecutors to strengthen their capacity to analyse complex transactions, identify beneficial owners, trace assets across borders, exploit digital evidence and build strong financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.
According to him, the Agency’s next priority, having recorded significant progress in narcotics seizures and prosecution, is to dismantle the economic foundations of the drug trade and make narcotics trafficking a high-risk, low-profit enterprise.
He also called for stronger synergy among the Agency’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation directorates, stressing that they must operate as interconnected links in one enforcement chain.
Marwa said collaboration with other law enforcement and justice-sector institutions is equally critical, as no single agency possesses all the information, expertise and capacity required to confront sophisticated criminal networks.
The importance of the training lies in strengthening the capacity of investigators and prosecutors to move beyond the physical seizure of drugs and pursue the money behind the trade.
The programme is designed to equip participants with the skills to follow illicit funds, uncover hidden assets, identify financiers and build cases that can lead to forfeiture and recovery.
Marwa said depriving criminal networks of their financial resources is critical to disrupting their ability to recruit couriers, acquire narcotics, facilitate shipments and expand their operations.
Participants at the programme include senior NDLEA investigators and prosecutors, as well as officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, and judges of the Federal High Court.
Marwa further 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.
He urged officers to ensure that recovered assets are properly managed and their value preserved from seizure through forfeiture and eventual realisation.
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.
Represented by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the Chief Judge said stronger collaboration between the Federal High Court, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies would strengthen Nigeria’s fight against organised crime and put the country in a positive spotlight internationally.
The three-day programme brings together experts in financial investigations, asset recovery, prosecution, cryptocurrency and justice-sector reform, with participants expected to return to their respective roles better equipped to follow the money, expose financiers, trace illicit assets and deprive drug cartels of the wealth sustaining their operations.