Marwa to NDLEA investigators: Dismantle financial structures of drug cartels
By Chris Steven
Buba Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has charged investigators and prosecutors to intensify efforts to trace, seize and recover the proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking.
Marwa spoke on Wednesday while declaring open an 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 in Abuja.
He 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 sustaining organised crime.
Marwa said drug trafficking is fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind drug shipments.
“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 said.
The NDLEA chairman said criminal organisations are increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth.
He urged investigators and prosecutors to develop the capacity to analyse complex transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.
Marwa said the agency’s next priority, following its progress in narcotics seizures and prosecution of traffickers, is to dismantle the economic foundations of the drug trade and make narcotics trafficking a high-risk, low-profit enterprise.
“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 drug trafficking intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime.
“These intersections make sustained cooperation, within the NDLEA and among our partner institutions, not merely desirable, but indispensable,” he said.
Marwa also called for stronger collaboration among the agency’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation directorates.
He described the directorates as interconnected links in a single enforcement chain, saying they must work as one agency rather than in isolation.
He extended the call to inter-agency cooperation, noting that no single institution possesses all the information, expertise or capacity required to tackle sophisticated criminal networks.
The NDLEA chairman commended the resource persons at the programme, including Michael Hopmeier, recently retired circuit judge at Southwark Crown Court, United Kingdom; Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, former chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, director of public prosecutions of the federation; Calvin Wilson, global MLCFT adviser; Jason Sandoval, head of European operations at Asset Reality; Nick Francis; Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, cryptocurrency expert and special assistant to the president on justice sector reform; and Chioma Chikelu, a crypto-police specialist.
Representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), ICPC and Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), as well as judges of the federal high court, also participated in the programme.
Marwa said their participation would strengthen the connection between investigation, prosecution and adjudication.
He also warned that asset recovery did not end with seizure or forfeiture, noting that poor management and lack of transparency could reduce the value of recovered assets and undermine public confidence.
He urged participants to ensure accountability and transparency from the point of seizure through forfeiture, management and eventual realisation of assets.
Marwa described the programme as an opportunity to strengthen the NDLEA’s collective capacity rather than another routine training.
He urged participants to share the knowledge acquired with their respective directorates and translate it into coordinated action across the agency.