Marwa Orders NDLEA to Target Financers and Assets as Chief Judge Backs Stronger FHC-NDLEA Collaboration
By Felix Mbata, Lagos state
The war against narcotics in Nigeria has entered a new phase. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, will no longer be satisfied with arresting couriers and seizing drugs alone.
Declaring open an Advanced Capacity Building Programme on Financial Investigations, Asset Tracing, Forfeiture and Recovery in Abuja on Wednesday, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), charged investigators and prosecutors to dismantle the financial structures of drug cartels and make drug trafficking a “high-risk, low-profit enterprise.”
The programme, which drew top judicial officers, financial crime experts, and representatives of sister agencies, signals NDLEA’s shift from crime detection to crime disruption.
“LEAVING THE FINANCIER UNTOUCHED IS ADDRESSING ONLY PART OF THE PROBLEM”
In his welcome remarks, Marwa said drug trafficking is fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind every drug shipment.
“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 stated.
The NDLEA boss observed that criminal organisations are increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth.
According to him, NDLEA officers must now be equipped to analyse complex transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.
THE NEW IMPERATIVE: DISRUPT, DON’T JUST DETECT
Marwa disclosed that having made significant progress in seizing narcotics and prosecuting traffickers, NDLEA’s next imperative is to attack the economic foundation of the drug trade.
“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 said.
He noted that the drug trafficking ecosystem intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, and illicit arms trafficking, making sustained cooperation within NDLEA and among partner institutions “not merely desirable, but indispensable.”
CALL FOR SYNERGY AND TRANSPARENCY
The NDLEA Chairman called for stronger synergy among the Agency’s Directorates: intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation, describing them as “interconnected links in one enforcement chain that must work as one Agency rather than in isolation.”
He also extended the call to inter-agency collaboration, noting that no single institution possesses all the information, expertise or capacity required to confront sophisticated criminal networks.
Marwa further warned that asset recovery does not end with seizure or forfeiture.
“Poor management and lack of transparency can diminish the value of recovered assets and undermine public confidence. Accountability and transparency must be preserved from the point of seizure through forfeiture, management and eventual realisation of assets,” he charged.
He urged participants to see the programme not as routine training but as an opportunity to strengthen NDLEA’s collective capacity and translate knowledge into coordinated action.
TOP EXPERTS AND AGENCIES IN ATTENDANCE
Marwa commended the calibre of resource persons at the programme, including:
Hon. Judge Michael Hopmeier, recently retired Circuit Judge at Southwark Crown Court, UK; Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, former Chairman of ICPC; Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation; Calvin Wilson, Global MLCFT advisor; Jason Sandoval, Head of European Operations at Asset Reality, and Nick Francis; Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, cryptocurrency expert and Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform; and Chioma Chikelu, a crypto-police specialist.
He also welcomed representatives of the EFCC, ICPC, and NFIU, as well as Judges of the Federal High Court, describing their presence as strengthening the link between investigation, prosecution and adjudication.
CHIEF JUDGE: COLLABORATION WILL PUT NIGERIA IN GLOBAL SPOTLIGHT
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 “commendable strides” the Agency has recorded under his leadership.
“His Lordship expresses his delight to be part of this programme which is designed to strengthen institutional capacity in financial investigation, asset tracing for future recovery, and management of proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotic trafficking and related crimes, including cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering,” the message read.
Justice Tsoho added 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 noted that the topic of the training shows how “extensive and multifaceted” drug crimes have become and must be tackled with effective and sophisticated law enforcement.
EXPECTATION
Marwa expressed confidence that at the end of the programme, participants would be better equipped to follow the money, identify assets, strengthen evidence, secure forfeiture, preserve recovered value, and ultimately deprive narcotics traffickers and organised criminal networks of the proceeds that fuel their operations.