In a major stride toward crushing international drug syndicates, Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Arab Emirates’ National Drug Enforcement Authority (NDEA) to choke off the transnational narcotics trade.
In a statement released on Saturday, September 26, the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the pact was finalized on the sidelines of the ongoing 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), described the agreement as the culmination of years of steady engagement, noting that it will “deepen intelligence-sharing and joint enforcement action along the Nigeria-UAE corridor.”
Marwa revealed the high stakes behind the new alliance, disclosing that between 2021 and 2026, the NDLEA intercepted approximately 354.7kg of UAE-bound illicit drugs—including cocaine, cannabis, tramadol, rohypnol, ecstasy, and khat—resulting in the arrest and prosecution of 47 suspects.
The NDLEA Chairman also stressed that these seizures underscored the critical urgency of the new partnership. Highlighting the NDLEA’s massive nationwide enforcement drive between January 2021 and July 2026, he revealed a relentless crackdown that yielded over 91,000 arrests—including 243 high-profile drug barons. Within this period, the agency seized more than 15.5 million kilograms of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals, secured 16,469 convictions, and provided counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation to over 53,000 individuals.
Furthermore, the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign has sensitized nearly 5.9 million Nigerians through aggressive community and school engagements.
According to the NDLEA boss, the new alliance will aggressively build on the existing exchange of liaison personnel, operational intelligence sharing, and technical cooperation. Under the new terms, the UAE will also provide a comprehensive list of prohibited items to Nigerian travelers to prevent inadvertent violations.
Reacting to the pact, the Chairman of the NDEA, His Excellency Sheikh Zayed bin Hamad Al Nahyan, reaffirmed the UAE’s total commitment to disrupting trafficking syndicates exploiting the robust trade, travel, and people-to-people ties between both nations. He described the MoU as a “natural evolution of an already productive relationship.”
Both agencies expressed absolute confidence that the agreement will translate into actionable intelligence-sharing, deadlier joint operations, and the ultimate dismantling of cartel networks along the Nigeria-UAE axis, aligning with the global responsibility championed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
