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The spokesperson for the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a
statement on Monday, said the NDLEA boss made the remark at the Global Rapid
Interdiction of Dangerous Substances twinning programme organised by the
International Narcotics Control Board.
Babafemi noted that Marwa said the agency was poised to
tighten the noose against drug traffickers through an integrated and balanced
strategy aimed at countering the world drug problem.
He also noted that the NDLEA boss noted that if drug
trafficking cartels could maintain effective networks across the globe, it was
expedient for drug law enforcement agencies to forge a clear formidable lead
ahead of them to win the all-important fight.
The statement said, “This programme is a laudable initiative
and is timely considering the proliferation of new psychotropic substances,
non-medical synthetic opioids, and other dangerous substances. The multi-agency
training on real-time communication, intelligence tools, awareness raising, and
the handling of dangerous substances, is a welcome development aimed at
intercepting narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
“Expectedly, this will help to strengthen the capacity of
law enforcement and regulatory officers across regions and promote faster and
more effective cooperation among participating countries like Ghana, Nigeria,
Thailand, and Vietnam. Other benefits include intelligence sharing and officer
exchange programmes, which are vital to the dislodgement of transnational drug
trafficking groups.”
Expressing optimism about the gains of the strategic
alliance between West Africa and South-East Asia, the NDLEA boss was quoted to
have said the twinning programme was preparing a solid foundation for a more
coordinated onslaught against drug trafficking cartels.
“Apart from exposing officers to global and regional trends
in new psychotropic substances and non-medical synthetic opioids, it will also
enhance the capacity of law enforcement agents to discharge their duties,” the
statement said.
According to the statement, Craig Nixon of the Bureau of
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, United States Department of State,
said there would be a continuous engagement of foreign partners to attain more
impactful counter-narcotics and law enforcement outcomes through foreign
assistance, diplomacy and the deployment of deterrence tools.
In his remarks, the Regional Technical Officer for the
INCB’s GRIDS programme in West and Central Africa, Amari Olivier, congratulated
the NDLEA boss over the recent historic seizure of Fentanyl.
Olivier said, “The mention of this opioid in Africa is
frightening, and Mr Chairman, you had the courage to alert the world during the
HONLEA on the risk of this substance on the African continent. Your message
enabled us to launch a search in our analysis tool, called IONICS.”
In his presentation, the Regional Technical Officer, GRIDS
Programme, Long Duc, said social media networks across the globe were widely
exploited by vendors of dangerous substances such as synthetic opioids or NPS,
adding that “more and more vendors are ‘fishing’ their customers over the
social media and then continue the communication via encrypted communication
tools such as Wickr.”