NDLEA’s Diving Capability Will Discourage Large Cocaine Shipments To Nigeria, Says Marwa

Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), Chairman/CEO of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, has stated that the recent training and certification of officers from the NDLEA’s Marine Command in basic diving, advanced open water diving, and full-face mask diving will discourage large cocaine shipments to Nigeria.

Marwa, who stated this while receiving a training report from the agency’s Director of Seaports Operations, DCGN Omolade Faboyede, said the new capability will send a strong message to international drug cartels that they will have no place to hide their illicit consignments on any ship or vessel arriving in Nigeria.

According to a press statement issued by NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi on Tuesday, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) selected eight officers from four countries, including two from Nigeria, to attend certification training in Bombinhas, Brazil, in two phases: first in November 2023 and then in July 2024.

According to the UNODC, the diving training was initiated to help the four countries of Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria, and Senegal combat drug trafficking and transnational crime.

The second phase of the training aimed to prepare professionals certified in basic and advanced diving for public safety diving to conduct ship hull searches, enforce the law, and ensure public safety in the fight against transnational drug trafficking.

Marwa praised the two NDLEA officers who took part in the training and certification program for their outstanding performance, stating that their “new ability to dive into the sea to search ship hulls will no doubt discourage global drug networks from attempting to send any large consignment to Nigeria knowing full well that our men now have the capacity to search every nook and cranny of ships and vessels coming into Nigeria.”

He stated that the agency will continue to outperform drug cartels in terms of skill and capability in order to prevent them from smuggling illicit drugs into Nigeria.

Marwa stated, “We will continue to expose our officers, men and women, to trainings and the use of modern technological tools in our determined bid to keep our country safe by combating the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking.”