The Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), has charged investigators and prosecutors of the agency to intensify efforts to trace, seize and recover the proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking.

Marwa said the fight against drug trafficking could no longer be won through arrests and drug seizures alone, stressing the need to dismantle the financial structures that sustain criminal networks.

He gave the charge on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, 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.

The NDLEA chairman said the level of participation in the programme reflected a shared understanding that drug trafficking was 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,” Marwa said.

He noted that criminal organisations were increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth.

Marwa therefore stressed the need for NDLEA investigators and prosecutors to develop the capacity to analyse complex transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build strong financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.

According to him, having made significant progress in narcotics seizures and prosecution of traffickers, the agency’s next priority 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.

Marwa added that the drug trafficking ecosystem intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime, making sustained collaboration among law enforcement institutions essential.

He called for stronger synergy among the NDLEA’s intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation directorates, describing them as interconnected links in a single enforcement chain.

The NDLEA boss also urged the directorates to work as one agency rather than operate in isolation, while calling for deeper inter-agency cooperation, noting that no single institution possesses all the information, expertise and capacity required to tackle sophisticated criminal networks.

Marwa commended the calibre of experts participating in the programme, including recently retired Southwark Crown Court Circuit Judge, Hon. Judge Michael Hopmeier; former ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN; Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN; Global MLCFT Adviser, Calvin Wilson; Asset Reality’s Head of European Operations, Jason Sandoval, and Nick Francis.

Others include cryptocurrency expert and Special Assistant to the President on Justice Sector Reform, Fernandez Marcus-Obiene, and crypto-police specialist Chioma Chikelu.

He also welcomed representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and judges of the Federal High Court.

According to Marwa, the participation of the institutions and the judiciary would strengthen the connection between investigation, prosecution and adjudication in financial crime cases.

He warned that asset recovery does not end with seizure or forfeiture, stressing that poor management and lack of transparency could diminish the value of recovered assets and undermine public confidence in the recovery process.

He urged officers to ensure accountability and transparency from the point of seizure through forfeiture, management and eventual realisation of recovered assets.

Marwa further charged participants to treat the programme as more than a routine training exercise, urging them to share knowledge acquired with other directorates and translate it into coordinated enforcement action.

He expressed confidence that participants would emerge better equipped to “follow the money,” identify and trace assets, strengthen evidence, secure forfeiture, preserve the value of recovered assets and ultimately deprive drug traffickers and organised criminal networks of the proceeds that finance their operations.

In a goodwill message delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, commended Marwa for the progress recorded by the NDLEA under his leadership.

Tsoho also emphasised the importance of collaboration between the Federal High Court, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies in strengthening Nigeria’s response to organised crime and enhancing the country’s standing within the international community.

According to the Chief Judge, the training programme was particularly important because of the increasingly complex and multifaceted nature of drug-related crimes, including cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.

He described the expanding frontiers of drug-related criminality as requiring sophisticated and effective law enforcement responses.

The Chief Judge commended Marwa for his achievements since assuming office and expressed the belief that stronger collaboration between the judiciary and law enforcement agencies, particularly the NDLEA, would further strengthen Nigeria’s fight against organised crime.