In a decisive move to cripple the financial lifelines of drug barons, the Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), has charged investigators and prosecutors to aggressively trace, seize, and recover the proceeds of narcotics trafficking.
Marwa insisted that the war against drug cartels can no longer be won by mere arrests and illicit drug seizures alone.
According to a statement released on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy said the NDLEA boss gave the directive while declaring open an Advanced Capacity Building Programme in Abuja. The high-level workshop focuses on financial investigations, asset tracing, forfeiture, recovery, and the management of proceeds from narcotics trafficking and organized crime.
In his welcome remarks, Marwa noted that the extensive participation in the training reflects a shared commitment to a harsh reality: drug trafficking is fundamentally an economic enterprise. He emphasized that every illicit shipment is heavily sustained by a complex web of financiers, facilitators, money launderers, and professional enablers operating behind the scenes.
“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 stated.He observed that criminal organizations are increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures, and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth. He stressed that the agency’s response must evolve with equal sophistication.
According to him, NDLEA investigators and prosecutors must be fully equipped to analyze complex transactions, trace assets across international borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence, and build financial cases capable of securing forfeiture and asset recovery.
Marwa disclosed that having made significant progress in seizing narcotics and prosecuting traffickers, the NDLEA’s next imperative is to dismantle the economic foundations of the drug trade—ultimately making narcotics trafficking a high-risk, low-profit enterprise.
“The sophistication of organized 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,” Marwa stated.
“The drug trafficking ecosystem intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking, and other forms of organized crime. These intersections make sustained cooperation, within the NDLEA and among our partner institutions, not merely desirable, but indispensable.”
Marwa called for stronger internal synergy among the agency’s core Directorates—Intelligence, Investigation, Prosecution, Forensics, and Asset and Financial Investigation—describing them as interconnected links in a single enforcement chain that must operate as a unified front rather than in isolation.
He extended the same charge to inter-agency collaboration, noting that no single institution possesses the total information, expertise, or capacity required to confront today’s sophisticated criminal networks.
The NDLEA Chairman highly commended the stellar caliber of resource persons assembled for the program. The elite training team features Hon. Judge Michael Hopmeier, recently retired Circuit Judge at Southwark Crown Court, UK; Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, former Chairman of the ICPC; and Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation.
Other global and domestic experts leading the sessions include Calvin Wilson, Global MLCFT Advisor; Jason Sandoval, Head of European Operations at Asset Reality, alongside his colleague Nick Francis; Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, cryptocurrency expert and Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform; and Chioma Chikelu, a crypto-police specialist, among other top facilitators drawn from sister agencies.
Marwa also welcomed representatives from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and Judges of the Federal High Court. He described their presence as a vital bridge strengthening the link between investigation, prosecution, and adjudication.
Warning that asset recovery does not end with seizure or forfeiture, the NDLEA boss cautioned that poor management and a lack of transparency could diminish the value of recovered assets and erode public confidence. He urged that strict accountability be maintained from the initial point of seizure through to forfeiture, management, and eventual asset realization.
“This is not another routine training,” Marwa charged his officers, stressing that knowledge gained must transcend individual directorates and translate into coordinated action across the agency. He expressed absolute confidence that the program would equip participants to effectively follow the money, secure forfeitures, and ultimately starve organized criminal networks of the proceeds fueling their operations.
Delivering a goodwill message on behalf of the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, Justice Inyang Ekwo commended Marwa for the historic strides recorded under his leadership. He affirmed that robust collaboration between the Federal High Court, the NDLEA, and sister law enforcement agencies will project Nigeria positively within the international community.
Reading the Chief Judge’s official address, Justice Ekwo stated:
“His Lordship, the Chief Judge, 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.
“He is of the opinion that this topic shows how extensive and multifaceted drug crimes are and can be, and their ever-expanding frontiers, which ought to be tackled by effective and sophisticated law enforcement.
“His Lordship appreciates and commends you, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, for your commendable strides since assuming office. His Lordship believes 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.”
