Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has expressed confidence that synergies are a win-win approach to curtailing drug cartel activities in the country.
Gen. Marwa stated this at the handover ceremony of two epenal boats and other operational equipment by the Nigerian Navy to the NDLEA at the Western Naval Command headquarters, Apapa Lagos on Thursday 12th May 2022. Represented by the Agency’s Director of Seaports Operations, Omolade Faboyede, he described the gesture as symbolic and the beginning of an era of stronger ties between both institutions, adding that the anti-narcotic agency and other stakeholders especially the military will further tighten the noose on drug cartels and spell doom for their activities in the country.
“The Agency is determined to cripple the activities
“I am particularly pleased with the prompt response to my request for matériel that could help to strengthen the Marine Unit of NDLEA as part of a sweeping effort to protect Nigerian waters from the trafficking of illicit drug substances. The synergy between the Navy and NDLEA, as exemplified by this ceremony, is a testament that we are winning the drug war on the waterfront with the broad goal of preventing drug cartels from smuggling narcotics into our country through airports, land borders, and seaports.
“We have come to a point where security organizations can longer afford to work in silos. Illicit drug trafficking, as a transnational organized crime, requires the deployment of intelligence and close-knit collaboration with key stakeholders like the Nigerian Navy and other security organizations.
In our effort to stem the tide of narcotic drugs, we have gone the extra mile and that includes the pursuit of synergy with organizations in the security sector.”
While highlighting some of the gains achieved through partnership with other stakeholders in 2021, Marwa noted that.
“So far, our efforts in one year showed that the strategy is effective. In 2021, we recorded the arrest of more than 12,300 suspected drug offenders, including seven drug barons with 1,400 drug traffickers jailed. We were able also to counsel and rehabilitate 8,000 drug users and in the same period, also, we mopped up over 3.4 million kilograms of assorted drugs. Interestingly, drugs and illicit proceeds of drug crime worth N130 billion were successfully recovered.
“This year equally started on an excellent footing. We broke our first quarter operational record with the arrest of over 3,539 suspected drug traffickers (including rogue security personnel and a well-known billionaire baron) and the seizure of more than 65,916 kilograms of drugs.”
In his remarks, the CNS Vice Admiral Gambo represented by the Ag. Flag Officer, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral HUF Kaoje said the support for the Agency was to enhance its efforts to fight the drug scourge and boost its capability to curb illicit drug activities on the waterways, thus being optimistic that the continuous commitment will further strengthen the Agency’s fight against drug cartel for national development.
