By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
THE NATIONAL Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) of Nigeria has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) of Saudi Arabia, cementing a cross-border alliance to disrupt international drug trafficking operations between the two nations.
The agreement, finalised on Monday 7 April in Riyadh, encompasses coordinated efforts to exchange intelligence, undertake joint investigations, and train operatives at Saudi Arabia’s narcotics control academy.
It also includes operational logistics support and information sharing on convicted traffickers.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retired), led the Nigerian delegation to the ceremony, accompanied by the agency’s Director of Operations and General Investigation, Ahmed Sule Ningi.
Speaking in Riyadh, Marwa hailed the accord as a long-overdue consolidation of the bilateral commitment both nations have maintained over decades.
“This MoU reflects the culmination of longstanding cooperation and will solidify operational synergy between the NDLEA and GDNC,” Marwa said. “It allows both countries to deploy collective expertise and adopt coordinated strategies to confront the growing complexity of global drug syndicates.”
Marwa emphasised that illicit drug trafficking has become a global crisis requiring unified action. Citing the frameworks of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), he stressed the importance of multilateral coordination in tackling transnational narcotics threats.
Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency has an extensive track record of cooperation with foreign law enforcement, including the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), French and German police services, and the UK Border Force.
Saudi Arabia, he noted, has been a strategic partner in the region, offering intelligence support and assisting in high-profile joint investigations.
“In just four years, our operations have resulted in over 57,792 arrests, including 65 drug kingpins. We’ve seized more than 10 million kilograms of illicit drugs and secured 10,572 convictions,” he stated. “Equally important, over 22,000 drug users have received treatment and rehabilitation across 33 centres nationwide.”
Marwa highlighted the sustained operational successes recorded over nearly two decades of informal collaboration.
Between 12 November 2007 and 15 January 2025, NDLEA seized 37.6kg of cocaine and other prohibited substances from 44 suspects on flights to Saudi Arabia.
These arrests took place at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), and the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA).
The Chairman also cited the groundbreaking seizure of 74.12kg of Captagon tablets in September 2021 at Apapa Port, Lagos.
Intelligence from Saudi authorities had alerted Nigerian operatives to the shipment, which originated from Syria and was under surveillance for five months—marking Africa’s first known Captagon interception.
Further, he recalled a successful joint investigation in August 2023 following the arrest of three Nigerian women in Jeddah.
Prompt collaboration enabled the NDLEA to apprehend their local accomplices and dismantle the network facilitating the illicit trade.
Marwa extended appreciation to the Saudi authorities for their longstanding cooperation and urged for continued support, particularly in advanced training, logistics, and operational technologies.
In his remarks, the Director General of the GDNC, Major General Mohammed bin Saeed Al-Qarni, commended the NDLEA’s steadfast leadership and described the signing of the MoU as a pivotal moment born of three years of strategic discussions.
He reaffirmed the commitment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the full implementation of the agreement and pledged further technical support and resource-sharing in the months to come.
Two Brothers Intercepted Enroute India
Previous Sunday, two brothers attempting to smuggle cocaine to India were intercepted at Lagos airport as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intensified its crackdown on drug trafficking across multiple Nigerian states.
The suspects, John Abugu, 43, and Kenneth Abugu, 31, were arrested on Thursday 3rd April 2025 at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja, after operatives of the agency’s Special Operations Unit discovered 5 kilograms of cocaine concealed within the inner walls of their suitcases.
They had claimed to be travelling for medical treatment in India, but a thorough search of their luggage uncovered the illicit drugs, later confirmed to be cocaine.
On the same day, officers from NDLEA’s MMIA Strategic Command intercepted a 20-year-old dual national, Ghanaian-British citizen Parker Darren Hazekia Osei, with a massive consignment of Loud—a potent strain of cannabis.
The suspect was caught with 36 parcels weighing 19.4kg packed in a large travelling bag.
Osei, who claims to be a Computer Science student at East London University, said he had travelled from the UK to Bangkok, Thailand, where he obtained the drugs intended for delivery in Nigeria.
He was arrested during inward passenger clearance at the airport’s E-arrival hall from an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
In Kogi State, NDLEA operatives arrested 33-year-old Ngozi Ogili on Monday 31st March while transporting 3 kilograms of methamphetamine from Lagos to Abuja.
She was apprehended in a commercial vehicle along the Okene–Lokoja highway. A follow-up raid at her delivery location in the Apo mechanic area of Abuja led to further seizures of Loud and Colorado, both synthetic variants of cannabis.
Elsewhere in the southeast, NDLEA operatives in Abia State arrested a 75-year-old man, Nna Nnanna Felix, during a raid at Umunteke Asa, Ukwa West Local Government Area. He was found with 1.6kg of skunk, a highly potent cannabis strain.
Earlier in the week, on Tuesday 1st April, another suspect, 21-year-old David Chinemerem, was arrested with 2,050 ampoules of pentazocine at 7 Nnajiego Lane, Umuode Road, Aba.
In Yobe State, 381 bottles of codeine syrup and 108 tramadol tablets were seized from a suspect, Abdullahi Adamu, during a raid along the Potiskum–Damaturu road on Saturday 5th April.
Coordinated operations across Anambra, including Osogbo motor park, Onitsha, and a residential address in Oba, Idemili LGA, led to the arrest of Obinna Sunday and the confiscation of 195,000 tramadol pills.
At the same time, Ugochukwu Ojalanonye was arrested at the motor park with 4.2kg of codeine syrup and 5.4kg of pentazocine.
In the Federal Capital Territory, 51-year-old Sunday Ayogu was arrested with 25kg of skunk and 90.4g of methamphetamine during a raid at Wuse Market, Abuja, on Thursday 3rd April.
The following day, Friday 4th April, two women—Faith Effiong Etim, 64, and Victoria Asuquo Etim, 40—were apprehended in Cross River State during a joint NDLEA and Nigerian Army operation that uncovered and destroyed 250,000 kilograms of cannabis cultivated across over 100 hectares of farmland in Esuk-Odot, Odukpani LGA.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) outreach across the country, conducting awareness programmes in schools, religious centres, and marketplaces.
Key engagements included sensitisation lectures at Cave City Secondary School in Ogidi, Anambra; outreach to residents of Dan’iyau village in Batagarawa LGA, Katsina; and awareness sessions for the Nigerian Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers in Sangere and Kwanan Waya, Yola, Adamawa State.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the efforts of officers across MMIA, SOU, Yobe, Abia, Kogi, Anambra, Cross River, and the FCT.
He emphasised that the agency’s balanced approach to reducing both drug supply and demand continues to yield commendable results.
