NDLEA Boss Orders Investigators to Target Drug Cartels’ Financial Networks

By Zainab Uzomah| Abuja

The Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), has directed investigators and prosecutors to intensify efforts to trace, seize and recover the proceeds and assets of drug traffickers.

Marwa gave the charge on Wednesday in Abuja while declaring open an advanced capacity-building programme on financial investigations, asset tracing, forfeiture and recovery of proceeds linked to narcotics trafficking and organised crime.

The NDLEA boss said the war against drug cartels could no longer be won through arrests and drug seizures alone, stressing the need to dismantle the financial structures that sustain the illicit trade. He said drug trafficking is fundamentally an economic enterprise supported by financiers, money launderers, facilitators and other professional enablers.

Marwa warned that arresting couriers while leaving financiers untouched, or securing convictions without recovering illicit wealth, would only address part of the problem. He noted that criminal networks are increasingly using cryptocurrencies, technology, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal illicit wealth, urging investigators to develop the expertise required to trace assets, establish beneficial ownership and analyse complex financial transactions.

The NDLEA chairman also called for stronger collaboration among the agency’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensic, asset and financial investigation directorates, as well as closer cooperation with other law enforcement institutions.

He said the ultimate goal is to make narcotics trafficking a high-risk, low-profit enterprise by depriving criminal networks of the wealth that fuels their operations.

Meanwhile, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, commended the NDLEA for its efforts under Marwa’s leadership.

In a goodwill message delivered 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 enhance the country’s standing in the international community.

Justice Tsoho said the growing sophistication of drug-related crimes, including cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering, requires equally sophisticated and coordinated law enforcement responses.