Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, has said arrests alone cannot defeat drvg trafficking without a corresponding effort to seize and recover the proceeds of crime
Marwa stated this on Tuesday while delivering a presentation titled, “Criminal Property and the Criminal Process: How Can We Make It More Effective?” at the ongoing 43rd Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, organised by the Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
This was contained in a statement by the spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi.
Speaking before an international gathering of judges, law enforcement chiefs, financial intelligence experts and academics, the NDLEA chairman said the success of the criminal justice system should not be measured solely by the number of convictions secured.
The statement partly read, “A trafficker who loses his liberty but retains his fortune has not truly been defeated. His wealth can finance another operation, support his associates and sustain the criminal enterprise.”
Marwa said the ultimate objective should be to deny criminals the proceeds of their crimes promptly and lawfully while preserving the value of seized assets.
He likened arresting a trafficker without dismantling his financial empire to “pruning a weed at the stem while leaving its roots undisturbed,” warning that illicit wealth could resurface under different names, front companies or jurisdictions.
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