The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested 62,595 individuals, including 68 identified drug barons, and secured 11,628 convictions between January 2021 and March 2025.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during the opening of a conference organized for the Nigeria Governors Spouses, in partnership with the Nigeria Governors Spouses’ Forum.
Marwa explained that the agency, over the past four years, had intensified its operations to tackle drug-related issues across the country, aiming to not only sustain but also improve Nigeria’s achievements in drug control at the regional and global levels.
“In the course of our operations under the drug supply reduction strategy, the agency arrested 62,595 suspects, including 68 drug kingpins,” Marwa said. “We confiscated 10,317,137.55 kilograms of various illicit drugs and dismantled 1,330.56553 hectares of cannabis plantations.”
He noted that alongside enforcement, the agency also prioritized drug demand reduction in line with international standards.
According to him, from 2021 to 2025, NDLEA provided counseling and treatment for 24,375 individuals battling drug addiction, mostly through brief intervention programs.
In the same period, the NDLEA also carried out 10,501 awareness campaigns under its flagship War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative, reaching millions across communities.
“Through these programs, we directly engaged 3,843,789 people nationwide,” he added.
Marwa emphasized that preventive measures remained a key focus, particularly among youth and marginalized groups, in order to mitigate risk factors and strengthen resilience against substance abuse.