NDLEA, Australian police seal pact to target drug route

Nigeria and Australia have agreed to strengthen intelligence-sharing, joint operations and controlled drug deliveries to disrupt transnational trafficking networks operating along the Nigeria–Australia drug route.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and the Australian Federal Police formalised the partnership on Monday through a memorandum of understanding signed at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja, providing a framework for coordinated action against drug cartels operating across the two countries.

NDLEA Chairman, Brig Gen Buba Marwa (retd.), described the agreement as “a declaration of war against transnational drug cartels that think they can hide between continents,” warning that traffickers would face intensified operations across the route.

The four areas of cooperation under the agreement are intelligence and information exchange, joint and coordinated operations, capacity building and professional development, and controlled delivery of illicit drugs to identify and apprehend other members of trafficking networks.

In a statement made available to The PUNCH on Monday, Marwa said the agreement came as drug trafficking became increasingly transnational, organised and sophisticated, with Nigerian criminal groups linked to the Australia-Pacific route, particularly in the trafficking of methamphetamine and cocaine.

“Nigeria is being exploited as a transit and sourcing hub, but no single country can fight this alone,” he said.

Marwa expressed confidence that the partnership would lead to major joint seizures, arrests of high-value targets and successful controlled deliveries.

“Now, this MoU is renewable and is a declaration of war against transnational drug cartels that think they can hide between continents.

“With the AFP’s global reach and NDLEA’s operational doggedness, I am confident that we will make the Australia-Nigeria drug route extremely hostile and unprofitable for traffickers. And we look forward to immediate implementation,” he said.

The NDLEA chairman cited recent operations, including the seizure of 184.5 kilogrammes of cocaine intended for export and the discovery of four methamphetamine laboratories in recent months, with Mexican nationals allegedly embedded in the operations.

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One of the laboratories, he said, yielded seizures valued at more than $360m.

He also cited the dismantling of a Switzerland-based drug cartel allegedly led by a Nigerian, Simon Amadi, following more than a year of joint investigations involving the NDLEA, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration and police authorities in France, Greece and Switzerland. The agency has also targeted the cartel’s assets in Nigeria.

Leading the Australian delegation, the Head of the AFP delegation, Sandra Booth, said cooperation between law enforcement agencies was necessary because organised crime groups were using drug trafficking to finance other serious offences.

She said criminal networks were increasingly operating a “crime as a service” model, recruiting young and vulnerable people to deliver and transport drugs and carry out violent attacks against rival groups.

Beyond addiction and the damage to families and communities, Booth said the trade was contributing to gang violence and deaths in Australia.

“Whilst Nigeria is a transit country, we are a destination country. And unfortunately for us, people will pay a lot of money for the commodity,” she said.

Booth said Australia wanted to work with Nigeria to prevent drugs from reaching its territory and protect its young people and vulnerable populations.

She commended the NDLEA’s approach to tackling drug abuse and trafficking, including prevention and enforcement, and described its international partnerships as a force multiplier.

“It is so necessary that we work together as a team, that we are forceful, that we are committed, that we show integrity, and we hunt as a pack. And I am very proud that we can now be part of your pack,” she said.

The agreement was signed in the presence of the Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Leilani Bin-Juda, Deputy High Commissioner Timothy Milikan and other members of the Australian police delegation.