No hiding place for drug cartels, says Marwa

The Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), says with the recent overseas training of its officers, drug cartels will now be discouraged from shipping cocaine into Nigeria because they will be spotted and arrested.

According to a statement on Tuesday by the NDLEA spokesman,  Femi Babafemi, Marwa made the remark while receiving the report of the training of two NDLEA officers abroad.

Babafemi said the report was presented to Marwa by the NDLEA Director of Seaports Operations, Omolade Faboyede.

“Their (officers’) new ability to dive into the sea to search ship hulls will no doubt discourage global drug networks from attempting to send any large consignment to Nigeria, knowing full well that our men now can search every nook and cranny of ships and vessels coming to Nigeria, ” Marwa said.

According to the statement, two officers of the NDLEA Marine Command were among eight officers selected from four countries, by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to undergo a certification training in Bombinhas City, Brazil, in two phases – first in November 2023 and then July 2024.

Marwa was quoted as saying, “The recent training and certification of officers of the Marine Command of the NDLEA in basic diving, advanced open-water diving and full-face mask diving will discourage large shipments of cocaine to Nigeria.”

Babafemi, quoting  UNODC, said the diving training was initiated to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking and transnational crime activities for the four countries: Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria and Senegal.

“The second phase of the training was to qualify professionals certified in basic and advanced diving in public safety diving to conduct ship hull searches, enforce the law and ensure public safety in combating transnational drug trafficking,” he added.