BY NKECHI BAECHE-ESEZOBOR—The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has revealed how advanced forensic equipment donated by the United States government enabled operatives to detect a precursor chemical for fentanyl at a clandestine laboratory in an Ogun State forest.
Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the agency disclosure this at its headquarters in Abuja today while hosting a delegation from the US Government Accountability Office led by Mr. Derek Tolliver, Country Director of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau (INL) in Nigeria.
He congratulated Tolliver on his appointment as the Country Director of INL in Nigeria, while expressing gratitude for the enduring positive relationship between Nigeria and the US Government.
He thanked the INL specifically for the immense support NDLEA has continued to receive from them and other US agencies that are supportive of the Agency especially, the DEA, AFRICOM, FBI and others.
According to him, “I would like to state very clearly that whatever successes that we have had in this Agency, the INL is part of it. No question about it. You have assisted us in the past with vehicles; we need operational vehicles to move. And I recall that in 2021, when I assumed the chairmanship of this Agency, one of the earliest actions that I took was to distribute INL-provided vehicles to the commands.
“Now, the forensic labs: we used to have just the one in Lagos for the whole country. The INL modernized it with new equipment, better-constructed buildings, and on top of that, the additional forensic laboratories that were introduced here in Abuja to cater for the North, and another one in Enugu to cater for the South-East and South-South, the INL supported us with some of the equipment. These forensic labs have been central to our law enforcement efforts. In fact, with the seizure about two months ago and dismantlement of the meth lab in the deep forest of Ogun State, we relied on the forensic equipment to determine the precursor chemicals. And we discovered one of the precursor chemicals was in fact for the production of Fentanyl, which is bad news. Nobody wants to hear that word. It’s bad enough to be dealing with meth laboratories and we very much appreciate that contribution. Without these modern tools, that would have gone unnoticed because it was just a small part of the precursor chemicals. That was really very important.”
He asked for more support for NDLEA in the areas of logistics and training, among others.
Earlier, US-INL commended the recent operational successes of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), assuring to build on the existing partnership between the Agency and INL.
While appreciating Marwa for taking the time to meet with his delegation, Tolliver said
“the purpose of this meeting was to make the initial introductions, to let you know that I’m here. We want to continue the great work and build upon the work of our previous INL programs here. Then I am certainly looking forward to following up with the NDLEA—me and my team in our office at the US Embassy in Abuja later—to move our program goals forward.
“Lastly, I want to say big congratulations on all the successes over the past months with your leadership and under your leadership. It is phenomenal how much this organization has grown, the accolades that are now shown in the media. So, I do want to recognize that.”
