THE Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig- Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd) has stated that the war against drug trafficking cannot be won by arrests alone, but must be matched by an equally aggressive pursuit of the proceeds of crime.
Marwa stated this while addressing an international gathering of Judges, law enforcement chiefs, financial intelligence experts and academics, in 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, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK).
A statement by the agency’s Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Tuesday, August 25, quoted Marwa as saying: “The effectiveness of the criminal process should not be measured only by the number of convictions secured.
“It should also be measured by whether crime is made 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.
“The ultimate objective must, therefore, be to deny criminals the proceeds of their crime, promptly, and lawfully while preserving the value of the property.
“Nigeria, through the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, will continue to strengthen this approach.”
Addressing the session, chaired by a Judge, Wendy Tien, Marwa said arresting a trafficker without dismantling his fortune was like “pruning a weed at the stem, while leaving its roots undisturbed,” warning that such wealth simply resurfaces “under a different name, through a different front company, in a different jurisdiction.”
He said the agency had deployed six practical strategies to strengthen asset recovery, in accordance with the NDLEA Act 2004, Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022, and Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, including embedding investigators and prosecutors together from the inception of cases, a reform that has shortened the interval between arrest and securing of restraint orders.
He disclosed that in July alone, NDLEA froze bank accounts worth over $7million and secured interim forfeiture orders covering multibillion-naira assets, including filling stations, multi-storey buildings and exotic vehicles linked to a fugitive methamphetamine syndicate.
Maerwa highlighted the agency’s use of provisions on unexplained wealth and living beyond one’s legitimate means as a powerful investigative trigger, and the interlocutory sale of perishable and depreciating assets to protect their value ahead of final judgment.
These efforts, he said, have now been institutionalised within Nigeria’s National Drug Control Master Plan 2026-2030, ensuring that financial disruption of drug cartels remains a sustained national priority rather than a series of isolated cases.
Marwa acknowledged that challenges remain, particularly around delays in mutual legal assistance, limited forensic accounting capacity and the need to balance the rights of accused persons with the state’s duty to preserve assets pending trial; hence his call for faster international cooperation mechanisms and stronger cross-border recognition of non-conviction-based forfeiture orders.
The NDLEA chief thanked the Centre for Geopolitics, organisers of the symposium, and Tien for the platform, reaffirming the agency’s readiness to deepen partnerships with jurisdictions and institutions committed to dismantling the financial architecture of drug trafficking.
