— NDLEA boss unveils asset recovery strategy at Cambridge
By Kingsley Omonobi
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), has said the fight against drug trafficking cannot be won through arrests alone, stressing the need to deprive traffickers of the proceeds of their crimes.
Marwa made the declaration while delivering a presentation titled, “Criminal Property and the Criminal Process: How Can We Make It More Effective?” at the ongoing 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, organised by the Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The NDLEA chairman told an international audience comprising judges, law enforcement chiefs, financial intelligence experts and academics that criminal justice systems must focus not only on securing convictions but also on making crime unprofitable.
He said a drug trafficker who loses his freedom but retains his wealth could use the proceeds to finance further criminal activities and sustain his network.
“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,” he said.
Addressing the session chaired by Justice Wendy Tien, Marwa likened arresting traffickers without dismantling their financial networks to “pruning a weed at the stem while leaving its roots undisturbed.”
He warned that proceeds of crime could resurface under different names, through front companies or in other jurisdictions if the financial structure supporting criminal enterprises was not dismantled.
Marwa outlined six strategies adopted by the NDLEA to strengthen asset recovery, anchored on the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act 2004, Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022 and Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.
He cited the forfeiture of the Hook Hotel, a property linked to a fugitive drug suspect, as an example of the agency’s use of non-conviction-based forfeiture.
According to him, the property was recovered and 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 development demonstrated that fleeing the country or evading arrest would not necessarily enable a suspect to retain the financial benefits of alleged criminal activities.
The NDLEA boss also disclosed that investigators and prosecutors of the agency now work together from the early stages of cases, a development he said had shortened the period between arrests and securing restraint orders.
Marwa said the agency had, in the previous month, frozen bank accounts containing more than $7 million and secured interim forfeiture orders covering assets worth billions of naira, including filling stations, multi-storey buildings and exotic vehicles allegedly linked to a fugitive methamphetamine syndicate.
He also spoke on a case involving Nigerian businessman Amadi Simon, whom he described as a suspected drug trafficker arrested in Switzerland through a joint operation involving the NDLEA, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and authorities in Switzerland, Greece and France.
Marwa said three hotels allegedly linked to the suspect were placed under professional asset managers rather than shut down, in order to preserve their value as going concerns pending the outcome of the trial.
He further highlighted the agency’s use of provisions relating to unexplained wealth and living beyond legitimate means as investigative triggers.
He said the NDLEA also deploys interlocutory sales of perishable and depreciating assets to prevent their values from being eroded before the conclusion of legal proceedings.
According to Marwa, the measures have been incorporated into Nigeria’s National Drug Control Master Plan 2026–2030, making the financial disruption of drug trafficking organisations a sustained national priority.
He identified three principles guiding the agency’s asset recovery strategy: speed over sequence, preservation of value and institutionalisation.
Marwa, however, acknowledged challenges including delays in mutual legal assistance, limited forensic accounting capacity and the need to balance the rights of accused persons with the responsibility of the state to preserve assets pending trial.
He called for faster international cooperation mechanisms and stronger cross-border recognition of non-conviction-based forfeiture orders.
The NDLEA chairman thanked the Centre for Geopolitics, the symposium organisers and Justice Tien for the opportunity to share Nigeria’s experience.
He reaffirmed the agency’s readiness to deepen collaboration with international jurisdictions and institutions committed to dismantling the financial networks that sustain drug trafficking.
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