The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), has called for a more aggressive global approach to tackling drug trafficking, saying the fight cannot be won through arrests and convictions alone.
Marwa made the declaration while delivering a presentation titled “Criminal Property and the Criminal Process: How Can We Make It More Effective?” at the 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, organised by the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The symposium brought together judges, law enforcement chiefs, financial intelligence experts and academics from different parts of the world.
According to Marwa, dismantling the financial networks of drug traffickers is critical to permanently disrupting criminal enterprises.
He said measuring success only by the number of arrests and convictions was inadequate, stressing that criminal justice systems must also ensure that crime becomes financially unprofitable.
“A trafficker who loses his liberty but retains his fortune has not truly been defeated. His wealth can finance another operation, support his associates and sustain the criminal enterprise,” Marwa said.
He added that the ultimate objective should be to lawfully and promptly deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crimes while preserving the value of recovered assets.
Marwa likened arresting a drug trafficker without dismantling his financial empire to “pruning a weed at the stem while leaving its roots undisturbed.”
He warned that criminal wealth could resurface through associates, front companies or different jurisdictions if financial investigations and asset recovery were not pursued alongside criminal prosecutions.
The NDLEA boss outlined six strategies adopted by the agency to strengthen asset recovery, relying on provisions of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act 2004, the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022 and the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.
Among the examples he cited was the forfeiture of the Hook Hotel, a property allegedly linked to a fugitive drug suspect. According to Marwa, the property was recovered through non-conviction-based forfeiture and subsequently sold for $4.2 million, with the proceeds paid into the Federal Government’s forfeited assets account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He said the case demonstrated that fleeing the country or evading arrest should not enable a suspect to retain the benefits of alleged criminal activity.
Marwa also disclosed that NDLEA investigators and prosecutors now work together from the early stages of cases, a development he said had helped shorten the time between arrests and the securing of asset restraint orders.
According to him, the agency froze bank accounts worth more than $7 million in one month and obtained interim forfeiture orders covering multibillion-naira assets, including filling stations, multi-storey buildings and luxury vehicles allegedly linked to a fugitive methamphetamine syndicate.
On a major case involving Nigerian businessman Amadi Simon, who was arrested in Switzerland in a joint operation involving the NDLEA, US Drug Enforcement Administration and authorities in Switzerland, Greece and France, Marwa said three hotels allegedly linked to the suspect were placed under professional asset managers.
He explained that the decision was aimed at preserving the value of the businesses rather than shutting them down while legal proceedings continue.
Marwa further highlighted the use of unexplained wealth and lifestyles inconsistent with legitimate income as investigative triggers, as well as the interlocutory sale of perishable or depreciating assets to prevent their value from being lost before the conclusion of criminal proceedings.
He maintained that effective asset recovery should remain an integral part of the global fight against organised crime, particularly drug trafficking, which relies heavily on financial resources to sustain its operations.
