How NDLEA Destroys Drug Cartels Through Asset Recovery – Buba Marwa
CAMBRIDGE, UK — The Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), says the war against drug trafficking cannot be won by arrests alone unless governments aggressively pursue and confiscate the proceeds of crime.
Marwa said this at the 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime.
The event was organised by the Centre for Geopolitics at the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Delivering a presentation titled “Criminal Property and the Criminal Process: How Can We Make It More Effective?” Marwa argued that convictions are no longer the sole measure of success.
“A trafficker who loses his liberty but retains his fortune has not truly been defeated,” Marwa stated during the session chaired by Honourable Judge Wendy Tien. “His wealth can finance another operation, support his associates, and sustain the criminal enterprise.”
Marwa warned that arresting a drug lord without dismantling their financial empire is like “pruning a weed at the stem while leaving its roots undisturbed.” Without total financial disruption, illicit wealth quickly resurfaces under different front companies and jurisdictions.
Global Challenges and Call to Action
Despite domestic success, Marwa noted that international bottlenecks slow down global justice. He highlighted delays in mutual legal assistance, gaps in global forensic accounting capacity, and the challenge of balancing defense rights with state asset preservation.
He also called on international partners for faster cross-border cooperation and wider recognition of non-conviction-based forfeiture orders.
