The United States International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Bureau (INL) has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for its recent operational successes, assuring the agency of continued support in strengthening Nigeria’s fight against illicit drugs.
The Country Director of INL Nigeria, Derek Tolliver, gave the commendation on Thursday, August 20, 2026, when he led a delegation from the US Government Accountability Office on a courtesy visit to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
Tolliver said the visit was aimed at strengthening the existing partnership between the US Government and the NDLEA and building on previous INL-supported programmes in Nigeria.
He congratulated Marwa and the agency on what he described as phenomenal achievements in recent months, noting that the NDLEA’s growth and operational successes had attracted significant public recognition.
“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 organisation has grown,” Tolliver said.
Responding, Marwa congratulated Tolliver on his appointment and expressed appreciation for the enduring partnership between Nigeria and the United States, particularly the support NDLEA has received from INL and other US agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), AFRICOM and the FBI.
Marwa said the US support had contributed significantly to the agency’s operational successes, particularly through the provision of vehicles, modern forensic equipment and the establishment of additional forensic laboratories.
He disclosed that equipment provided by INL played a crucial role in the recent discovery of a precursor chemical used in fentanyl production during the dismantling of a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in a deep forest in Ogun State.
According to Marwa, forensic equipment supplied through the US partnership enabled NDLEA experts to identify the chemical, which constituted only a small portion of the precursor substances recovered from the illicit laboratory.
“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,” Marwa said.
He explained that before the intervention of INL, NDLEA had only one forensic laboratory in Lagos serving the entire country. The US support, he said, helped modernise the Lagos facility and supported the establishment and equipping of additional laboratories in Abuja and Enugu to improve forensic analysis and drug law enforcement across the country.
Marwa stressed that without the modern forensic tools, the fentanyl-related precursor chemical could have gone undetected.
“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 said.
The NDLEA chairman subsequently appealed for additional US support, particularly in the areas of logistics, operational equipment and training, to further strengthen the agency’s capacity to combat drug trafficking and illicit drug production in Nigeria.
Tolliver assured the NDLEA of INL’s commitment to sustaining the partnership and advancing programmes aimed at supporting the agency’s operational and institutional capacity.
The meeting underscored the growing Nigeria-US collaboration in the fight against illicit drugs, particularly in the areas of intelligence, forensic investigation, training and operational support.
