By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd.), has said drug barons must lose their wealth to be defeated.
According to him, arrests alone cannot defeat drug trafficking without a corresponding effort to seize and recover the proceeds of crime.
Marwa stated this on Tuesday, August 25, 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.
According to a statement by Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Marwa said the success of the criminal justice system should not be measured solely by the number of convictions secured.
Marwa, while speaking before an international gathering of judges, law enforcement chiefs, financial intelligence experts and academics, noted that the process should also be assessed by its ability to make crime unprofitable.
The NDLEA boss likened arresting a trafficker without dismantling his financial empire to “pruning a weed at the stem while leaving its roots undisturbed,” warning that illicit wealth could resurface under different names, front companies, or jurisdictions.
“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,” the statement read.
Marwa outlined six strategies adopted by the agency to strengthen asset recovery, anchored on the NDLEA Act 2004, the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery and Management) Act 2022, and the 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 sold for $4.2 million, with the proceeds paid into the Federal Government’s forfeited assets account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Marwa said the development demonstrated that fleeing the country could not enable a fugitive to retain the benefits of alleged criminal activities.
He also disclosed that NDLEA investigators and prosecutors were now working together from the commencement of cases, a development he said had shortened the period between arrest and the securing of restraint orders.
The NDLEA chairman said the agency froze bank accounts containing more than $7 million in the previous month and secured interim forfeiture orders covering multibillion-naira assets, including filling stations, multi-storey buildings, and exotic vehicles allegedly linked to a fugitive methamphetamine syndicate.
On the case involving Nigerian businessman, Amadi Simon, whom the agency described as a suspected drug baron, Marwa said three hotels linked to the suspect were placed under professional asset managers instead of being shut down.
He said the measure was aimed at preserving the value of the hotels as going concerns pending the outcome of the trial.
Marwa further highlighted the use of provisions relating to unexplained wealth and living beyond legitimate means as investigative triggers, as well as the interlocutory sale of perishable and depreciating assets to prevent their values from declining before final judgement.
He said the measures had been incorporated into Nigeria’s National Drug Control Master Plan 2026–2030, making financial disruption of drug trafficking organisations a sustained national priority.
The NDLEA chairman identified speed, preservation of value and institutionalisation as three principles guiding the agency’s asset recovery efforts.
He, 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.
Marwa called for faster international cooperation and stronger cross-border recognition of non-conviction-based forfeiture orders.
He reaffirmed the agency’s readiness to strengthen partnerships with foreign jurisdictions and institutions in efforts to dismantle the financial structures supporting drug trafficking.
