The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the United Arab Emirates’ National Drug Enforcement Authority (NDEA) have moved to tighten the noose around international drug trafficking networks operating between Nigeria and the UAE, with both countries signing a new agreement to deepen intelligence-sharing and joint enforcement operations.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed on Saturday in Abu Dhabi on the sidelines of the ongoing 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, is expected to strengthen coordinated action against traffickers exploiting the extensive travel, trade and commercial links between the two countries.
The pact comes as NDLEA revealed that its operatives had intercepted 354.7 kilogrammes of illicit drugs concealed in consignments destined for the UAE between 2021 and 2026, leading to the arrest and prosecution of 47 suspects.
The substances seized included cocaine, cannabis, tramadol, Rohypnol, ecstasy and khat.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), who signed the agreement on behalf of Nigeria, said the development marked a new phase in the collaboration between the two anti-narcotics agencies.
Marwa said the agreement was the culmination of years of engagement between NDLEA and NDEA and would provide a stronger platform for the exchange of intelligence, operational information and technical expertise.
According to him, the volume of illicit drugs intercepted on the UAE route underscores the urgency of closer cooperation between the two countries.
He said the new framework would build on existing arrangements, including the exchange of liaison personnel, while paving the way for stronger coordination of enforcement operations.
A particularly significant component of the agreement, Marwa disclosed, is the planned provision of a comprehensive list of prohibited items by the UAE authorities to Nigerian travellers.
The measure, he said, would help Nigerians travelling to the UAE avoid inadvertently carrying substances or items prohibited under UAE laws.
The NDLEA boss also used the occasion to unveil the scale of the agency’s wider offensive against illicit drugs across Nigeria.
He said that between January 2021 and July 2026, the agency arrested more than 91,000 suspects, including 243 alleged drug barons, and seized over 15.5 million kilogrammes of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals.
Within the same period, he said, 16,469 convictions were secured, while more than 53,000 drug users received counselling, treatment and rehabilitation.
Beyond enforcement, Marwa said the agency’s preventive campaign, the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), had reached nearly 5.9 million Nigerians through engagements in communities and schools.
He said the combination of enforcement, intelligence and prevention remained central to the agency’s efforts to reduce the supply and demand for illicit drugs.
On the UAE side, Chairman of the NDEA, Sheikh Zayed bin Hamad Al Nahyan, reaffirmed his agency’s commitment to working closely with Nigeria to disrupt trafficking networks exploiting the strong economic and human connections between the two countries.
Al Nahyan described the MoU as a natural progression of the productive relationship already established between the two agencies.
The agreement is expected to facilitate faster intelligence exchanges, improve operational coordination and strengthen efforts to identify and dismantle trafficking networks moving narcotics through the Nigeria-UAE corridor.
The development is particularly significant given the role of Nigeria and the UAE as major points in international travel and commercial networks, making cooperation between their drug enforcement authorities critical to tracing consignments and the networks responsible for them.
Both agencies expressed confidence that the new partnership would produce more effective joint operations and strengthen the disruption of transnational drug trafficking organisations.
The collaboration also aligns with the wider international framework against organised crime and illicit drug trafficking championed by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), under whose auspices the Abu Dhabi congress is taking place.
