The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) froze bank accounts containing more than $7 million in July as part of efforts to disrupt the financial networks of drug traffickers and recover proceeds of crime.
The agency also secured interim forfeiture orders covering assets worth billions of naira, including filling stations, multi-storey buildings and exotic vehicles linked to a fugitive methamphetamine trafficking syndicate.
The NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), disclosed this on Tuesday while delivering a presentation at the 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, organised by the Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Marwa said the financial measures were part of the agency’s strategy to weaken drug trafficking organisations by targeting the resources that enable them to operate and expand.
He said the NDLEA had strengthened the process of identifying, tracing and securing suspected criminal assets alongside investigations into drug trafficking offences.
According to him, investigators and prosecutors now work together from the early stages of cases, a development that has helped shorten the time between arrests and the securing of restraint orders over suspected criminal assets.
The NDLEA boss said the approach allows the agency to move quickly to preserve assets and prevent suspects or their associates from transferring, concealing or disposing of properties before legal action is taken.
He said the agency’s efforts were not limited to bank accounts, noting that assets linked to suspected drug trafficking operations could also be subjected to interim forfeiture proceedings in accordance with the law.
Marwa said the measures were aimed at ensuring that suspected drug traffickers do not retain access to wealth allegedly generated through criminal activities while investigations and court proceedings are ongoing.
He stressed that recovering criminal proceeds was necessary to weaken the financial capacity of drug trafficking networks and prevent them from using illicit wealth to fund further operations.
The NDLEA chairman said the agency would continue to strengthen its asset recovery mechanisms as part of its broader efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks in Nigeria.