The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its focus on tracing and recovering the financial assets of drug traffickers, with its chairman, Brig Gen Buba Marwa (Rtd), saying arrests and drug seizures alone are no longer enough to defeat criminal networks.
Marwa gave the charge on Wednesday, while declaring open an advanced capacity-building programme on financial investigations, asset tracing, forfeiture, recovery and management of proceeds and instrumentalities linked to narcotics trafficking and organised crime in Abuja.
The NDLEA chairman said drug trafficking is fundamentally an economic enterprise sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers.
“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 stated.
Marwa said criminal organisations are increasingly using technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal illicit wealth.
He therefore urged NDLEA investigators and prosecutors to develop the capacity to analyse complex transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build stronger financial cases to support forfeiture and recovery.
According to him, the agency’s next priority, following significant progress in narcotics seizures and prosecution, is to dismantle the economic foundations of the drug trade and make 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.”
Marwa also called for stronger cooperation among NDLEA directorates, including intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation.
He said the units must work as an interconnected enforcement chain rather than operate in isolation, while stressing the importance of collaboration with other law enforcement and justice institutions.
The NDLEA chairman warned that the agency must also pay close attention to the management of recovered assets.
He said poor management and lack of transparency could reduce the value of seized assets and undermine public confidence in the recovery process.
Marwa urged officers to ensure accountability and transparency from the point of seizure through forfeiture, management and eventual realisation of recovered assets.
He further challenged participants to treat the programme as more than routine training, urging them to share the knowledge gained across the agency and translate it into coordinated enforcement action.
The programme attracted resource persons and representatives from several institutions, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Federal High Court.
In his goodwill message, delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, commended Marwa for the strides recorded by the NDLEA under his leadership.
Tsoho said stronger collaboration between the Federal High Court, NDLEA and other law enforcement agencies would enhance Nigeria’s standing within the international community.
He described the programme as an important initiative for strengthening institutional capacity in financial investigations, asset tracing and recovery, including cases involving cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.
The Chief Judge also said the evolving nature of drug-related crimes required effective and sophisticated law enforcement responses.
