The Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) has said that the agency arrested 29,262 suspected drug offenders, seized over 5.3 million kilogrammes of illicit drugs worth over N1.5 trillion and secured 5,225 convictions between 2025 and the first half of 2026.
Marwa also disclosed that the agency busted some transnational drug cartels including syndicates involving billionaire drug traffickers, Mexican methamphetamine manufacturers and international money laundering networks describing such operations as some of the biggest anti-drug successes in the history of Nigeria.
The NDLEA boss said this year’s global theme, “The World Drug Problem: Persisting Challenges, New Threats and Innovative Responses,” mirrors the rapidly evolving nature of organised drug crime. He said this while speaking in Abuja at the grand finale of the 2026 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
“The world is confronted not only with conventional narcotics but also with increasingly sophisticated synthetic drugs, new psychoactive substances, and criminal networks that use encrypted communication platforms, cryptocurrencies, social media and the dark web,” he said.
“The internet, hailed as a tool to drive innovation and connectivity, is being more and more exploited as a digital pipeline for addiction, exploitation and transnational organised crime,” he said.
Marwa said he was worried about the increasing exposure of young Nigerians to illicit drugs and attributed the trend to peer pressure, unemployment, misinformation on social media, emotional distress, eroding family support systems and the glamorisation of substance abuse.
But he said the agency had remained strong with intelligence-led operations across airports, seaports, land borders, forests and communities countrywide.
The NDLEA, in conjunction with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and law enforcement agencies in Greece, France and Switzerland, recently busted the notorious international drug trafficking and money laundering syndicate led by billionaire suspect, Amadi Simon, said Marwa.
He said that the multi-country coordinated operations led to the arrest of Simon in Switzerland with his Nigerian accomplices, Jacinta Amara Ikechi and Blessing Rosie Ahmadi.
He said the investigation had linked the syndicate to the laundering of hundreds of billions of naira from drug trafficking and other financial crimes.
“When he was arrested we recovered thousands of dollars in cash from his vehicle and over 60 million dollars was traced to his accounts,” Marwa said.
He also announced the break up of a major cross-continental methamphetamine manufacturing cartel involving a 63-year-old Nigerian kingpin, Innocent Anochili, three Mexican nationals and six Nigerian collaborators.
The operation, which was conducted simultaneously in Ogun and Lagos States after months of surveillance, led to the unearthing of a massive clandestine methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a remote forest in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Simultaneously, a second tactical team raided the suspect’s luxury home in Lagos’ Lekki area.
Forensic experts seized 2,419 kilogrammes of precursor chemicals, industrial solvents and crystallised methamphetamine worth about US$362 million, or more than 480 billion in the international illicit drug market, Marwa said.
He also disclosed that a few days after the operation, NDLEA officers located another industrial scale methamphetamine laboratory buried in a forest in Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State where one Mexican national and four Nigerians were arrested.
Marwa stated that 234 big-time drug lords involved in the coordination of illegal drug trafficking activities had been arrested, summing up the agency’s performance over the past five years.
He said the statistics are not mere operational data but “millions of lives saved, billions of naira in criminal wealth confiscated and the future reclaimed for our youths.”
Besides enforcement, the NDLEA boss said the agency has scaled up its drug demand reduction programmes.
He said the agency conducted 6, 645 sensitisation programmes in schools, religious centres, work places, markets, motor parks, correctional centres and communities, reaching out to almost five million Nigerians with anti-drug messages under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign.
“Also during the same period, 13,508 persons battling substance dependence received counselling, treatment and rehabilitation across the agency’s 31 treatment centres countrywide,” Marwa added.
He also mentioned the launch of Clean Beat 91.5 FM, the agency’s radio station targeted at drug abuse prevention and public enlightenment.
He said the NDLEA is increasingly using technology, deep-web intelligence, advanced data analytics and improved forensic capabilities to detect emerging synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals before they spread across communities.
Marwa also highlighted the Agency’s pioneering Alternative Development Programme, the first of its kind in Africa, which aims to provide illicit cannabis farmers with legitimate means of livelihood.
The initiative, which was launched in January in Ondo State with support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development and other international partners, is aimed at encouraging former cannabis cultivators to switch to crops such as cassava, maize, cocoa and cowpea.
He said the programme aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, and has started to generate positive results in the pilot communities.
Marwa praised the government’s efforts but stressed that substance abuse cannot be eliminated through law enforcement alone.
He called for a whole-of-society approach which involved families, schools, religious institutions, traditional rulers, civil society organisations, the media and the private sector.
“We are fighting for the soul of our nation. Let us strengthen collaboration, embrace technological innovation and invest more in prevention, treatment and social reintegration,” he said.
