The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) have agreed to intensify collaboration to tackle the illegal flow of opioids from India to Nigeria.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the two agencies entered into the agreement during a virtual meeting between Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, and Anurag Garg, director general of the NCB.
The NDLEA chairman highlighted the growing threat posed by the illicit drug trade to both countries, emphasising the urgent need to build on the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by the two agencies in 2023.
“The main reason why I requested this engagement is the illicit importation of tramadol and codeine cough syrup into Nigeria from India,” Marwa said.
Advertisement
“From January 2024 to June this year, we have seized over one billion pills of opioids, mainly tramadol, and more than 14.4 million bottles of codeine syrup. This is why we need the support and collaboration of the Narcotics Control Bureau of India to work with us on this.”
He also appealed for enhanced support in training and capacity building for Nigerian anti-narcotics officers from the Indian agency.
“We will very much appreciate sharing from your experiences and knowledge and your support on training for our officers,” he added.
Advertisement
Responding, Garg affirmed India’s readiness to support Nigeria in the shared fight against cross-border drug trafficking.
“We all know that there are transnational syndicates involved in the illicit drug shipments into Nigeria, but we’re ready to work with you on this,” he said.
“Unless we come together, we cannot end this malady. They have no respect for borders or national laws.”
Garg also offered NDLEA access to NCB’s training centre.
Advertisement
“We will be happy to offer you training. We can have a curated training programme through which we will be delighted to share whatever we know about clandestine labs, precursors, darknet monitoring, or investigating darknet vendors,” he said.
