The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), has called for a stronger focus on the financial assets of drug traffickers, saying arrests and convictions alone are not enough to dismantle criminal networks.
Marwa made the call while addressing an international gathering of judges, law enforcement officials, financial intelligence experts and academics at the 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime in the United Kingdom.
He spoke on the theme, “Criminal Property and the Criminal Process: How Can We Make It More Effective?”
In a statement issued on Tuesday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Marwa said the success of the criminal justice system should be measured not only by the number of convictions but also by its ability to make criminal activities financially unprofitable.
According to him, allowing convicted or arrested traffickers to retain their wealth could enable them to rebuild their operations and continue financing criminal activities.
“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,” he said.
Marwa said authorities must therefore move swiftly and lawfully to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their activities while ensuring that seized properties and other assets retain their value.
He likened arresting a drug trafficker without dismantling the financial structure supporting the operation to cutting a weed while leaving its roots intact.
The NDLEA boss said the agency had strengthened its asset recovery operations using 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.
He cited the recovery of the Hook Hotel, allegedly linked to a fugitive drug suspect, as an example of the agency’s approach.
According to Marwa, the property was recovered through non-conviction-based forfeiture and later sold for $4.2 million, with the proceeds transferred to the Federal Government’s forfeited assets account at the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He also disclosed that NDLEA investigators and prosecutors now work together from the early stages of investigations to speed up the process of securing court orders to restrain suspected criminal assets.
Marwa said the agency had, in the previous month, frozen bank accounts containing more than $7 million and obtained interim forfeiture orders covering assets worth billions of naira.
The assets, he said, included filling stations, multi-storey buildings and luxury vehicles allegedly connected to a fugitive methamphetamine trafficking syndicate.
He also highlighted the case of Amadi Simon, who was arrested in Switzerland through a joint operation involving the NDLEA, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and law enforcement authorities in Switzerland, Greece and France.
According to Marwa, three hotels allegedly associated with the suspect were placed under professional management rather than being closed, allowing the businesses to continue operating and preserve their value while the legal proceedings continue.
He said the agency was also using provisions on unexplained wealth and living beyond legitimate means to strengthen financial investigations into suspected drug traffickers.
Marwa further advocated the prompt sale of assets that are perishable or likely to lose value while cases are pending, subject to legal safeguards.
He said the measures had been incorporated into Nigeria’s National Drug Control Master Plan 2026–2030, making the disruption of the financial networks of drug cartels a long-term national priority.
He identified three principles guiding the NDLEA’s approach: speed, preservation of value and institutionalisation.
However, Marwa acknowledged challenges including delays in international legal assistance, limited capacity for forensic financial investigations and the need to protect the rights of accused persons while preserving suspected criminal assets.
He called for faster international cooperation and stronger mechanisms for recognising and enforcing asset forfeiture orders across jurisdictions, particularly in cases involving transnational drug trafficking networks.
Marwa said stripping criminal organisations of their financial resources remained essential to preventing them from rebuilding after arrests and prosecutions.
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