NDLEA Seizes ₦480bn Drugs, Arrests 77,859

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it arrested 77,859 suspected drug traffickers, including 240 major drug barons, and seized illicit drugs worth an estimated ₦480 billion between January 2021 and December 2025.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohammed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), disclosed this in Dutse, Jigawa State, during the signing of two Executive Orders by Governor Umar Namadi to strengthen the fight against drug abuse and promote societal reorientation.

Marwa said the agency seized 14.8 million kilogrammes of illicit drugs during the period and secured the conviction of 14,122 offenders.

He added that the NDLEA had intensified its offensive against drug cartels, stressing that Nigeria would no longer serve as a transit route or operational base for international drug traffickers.

He also revealed that the agency recently dismantled a methamphetamine laboratory valued at 362 million dollars, leading to the arrest of three Mexican nationals and their Nigerian collaborators.

Beyond enforcement, Marwa said more than 50,000 people battling substance abuse had received counselling and treatment at 31 NDLEA rehabilitation
centres nationwide.

He said the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continues to raise public awareness on the dangers of drug abuse.

Citing the 2018 National Drug Use Survey conducted by the Federal Government and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Marwa said drug use prevalence in the North-West stands at about 12 per cent, while Jigawa records one of the lowest rates in the country at seven per cent.

He said the newly inaugurated state task force would help sustain the state’s low prevalence through intelligence gathering, community mobilisation and coordinated enforcement, with support from the NDLEA headquarters.

Governor Umar Namadi said the two Executive Orders establish a coordinated framework to address drug abuse through prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, enforcement and community mobilisation, while also promoting patriotism, discipline, respect for the rule of law and civic responsibility.

The governor urged parents, teachers, religious and traditional leaders, community groups and security agencies to work together to protect young people from drug abuse, stressing that sustained action is needed to tackle the problem.

The Jigawa State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Abdulkadir Fanini, assured that the state government would prosecute anyone involved in the supply or distribution of illicit drugs.

Religious leaders, youth groups and student unions also pledged support for the anti-drug campaign.