By Omoyeni Ojeifo
The United States has pledged to build on its existing partnership with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), while commending the agency’s recent operational successes in the fight against illicit drugs.
Mr. Derek Tolliver, Country Director of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau (INL) in Nigeria, gave the assurance during a meeting with NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa in Abuja on Thursday.
Tolliver, who led a delegation from the US Government Accountability Office, said the meeting was aimed at making initial introductions and strengthening cooperation between the INL and NDLEA, according to Femi Babafemi, Director Media and Advocacy of the agency in a statement emailed to PersecondNews on Thursday.
The INL Director, said he and his team at the US Embassy in Abuja looked forward to following up with the agency to continue previous INL programmes and move their programme goals forward.
Tolliver congratulated Marwa on the agency’s recent achievements, describing its growth and the recognition it had received as “phenomenal.”
“It is phenomenal how much this organization has grown, the accolades that are now shown in the media. So, I do want to recognize that,” Tolliver said.
In his response, Marwa congratulated Tolliver on his appointment and expressed gratitude for the enduring positive relationship between Nigeria and the United States Government.
He specifically thanked the INL for its support to NDLEA, alongside other US agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration, AFRICOM and the FBI.
“I would like to state very clearly that whatever successes that we have had in this Agency, the INL is part of it. No question about it,” Marwa said.
He recalled that the INL had provided operational vehicles to NDLEA and that, shortly after assuming the chairmanship in 2021, he distributed the vehicles to various commands to strengthen their operations.
Marwa also highlighted INL’s support for NDLEA’s forensic capacity, saying Lagos previously had the agency’s only forensic laboratory serving the entire country.
He said the INL subsequently modernised the Lagos facility with new equipment and improved infrastructure, while supporting additional forensic laboratories in Abuja and Enugu.
According to Marwa, the Abuja laboratory was established to cater for the North, while the Enugu facility serves the South-East and South-South regions.
He noted that the laboratories and their modern equipment had become central to NDLEA’s law-enforcement operations, particularly in analysing substances recovered during drug investigations.
The NDLEA boss cited the dismantling of a methamphetamine laboratory in a deep forest in Ogun State about two months ago, noting that forensic equipment was used to identify the precursor chemicals found at the site.
He said the analysis revealed that one of the precursor chemicals was linked to the production of fentanyl, describing the discovery as a serious concern.
Marwa stressed that the chemical constituted only a small part of the precursor substances recovered and could have gone unnoticed without the modern forensic tools provided with INL support.
“That was really very important,” he said, stressing the value of the US-backed forensic capacity to NDLEA’s operations.
Marwa subsequently requested further support from the United States in logistics, training and other areas to strengthen the agency’s capacity to combat illicit drugs.
Persecondnews recalls that NDLEA had in May 2026 , dismantled a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Abidagba forest in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State, in an operation that led to the recovery of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals.