Chasing South American Drug Cartels

Apart from the number of arrests, prosecution and drug seizures, it is difficult to measure the success of Mohammed Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in removing illicit drugs from the streets of Nigeria.

There is very little data or a comprehensive study on the amount of drugs circulating in the country, the category and region most affected by drug abuse.

The insecurity plaguing the country has been linked to mining activities, poverty, terrorism, to climate change and the consequent competition for land and water between farmers and herders.

The connection to the illicit drug trade, however, has gotten less attention. Curbing drug use, drug trafficking plays an even lesser role in policy discussions on how to solve the country’s security challenges.

Globally, the trade in illicit drugs is driven by a network that spans five continents, generates billions of dollars in revenue and destroys millions of lives.

The biggest users of drugs are in North America and Europe. But Nigeria, like other West African nations, is increasingly serving as a transit and even consumer of illicit drugs, further fueling violence and insecurity.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that 50 tons of cocaine from South America, mainly Colombia, transit through West Africa on a yearly basis.

But in a recent development, as much as 31 tons of cocaine was seized from a ship along the West African coast.

NDLEA, however, believes there is no evidence that South American drug cartels are now operating in Nigeria, but admits some could be seeking a presence through local collaborators.

Marwa, NDLEA Chairman, is frustrating these moves. The agency reported in recent weeks the dismantling of the structures of collaborators, even before they could be fully established.

Two clandestine methamphetamine labs in remote forests of Ogun and Oyo states were dismantled, according to Femi Babafemi, spokesman of the agency.

What appears to be new is the involvement of Mexican nationals in the labs. They were arrested alongside the brains behind the operation.

Many Nigerians are hungry for more information about the identities of these foreigners setting up drug labs in the country, whether they will end up being charged to court or simply given safe passage back to their countries.

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NDLEA says it has a global network of partners and counterparts through which intelligence on the movements of persons and consignments is constantly shared.

Babafemi has frequently said NDLEA works with most of the leading law enforcement agencies across the world, especially counterparts in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Brazil, India, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Greece, South Africa, Gambia and Ghana.

But how some of these Mexicans who were recently caught in manufacturing drugs and trafficking find their way to Nigeria is an issue yet to be addressed. NDLEA insists it gets a lot of support from Nigeria’s foreign missions.

But it apparently wants NDLEA officers attached to some of the country’s missions abroad, especially in source countries, just like other countries have attaches in Nigeria.