VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUJA #2170/01 3091026
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 041026Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4353
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
INFO RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 0198

UNCLAS ABUJA 002170 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR INL/AAE 
JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, AND NDDS 
TREASURY FOR FINCEN 
DEA FOR OE, OI, OD and OC 
LAGOS FOR DEA AND FBI 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM NI IZ
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: 2008-2009 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY 
REPORT (INCSR) PART I, DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL (AF, WHA) 
 
REF: 08 STATE 100970 
 
¶I. Summary 
 
Nigeria is a major trafficking hub in West Africa. Afghan heroin and 
South American cocaine transit Nigeria on their way to markets in 
Europe, and the U.S.  Heroin transiting Nigeria has a significant 
impact on the United States.  More recently, there is clear evidence 
from seizures at the main international airports,  Abuja and Lagos, 
that Nigerian criminal organizations are sending numerous low level 
drug couriers or "mules" to Europe, especially to Spain.  Typically, 
these mules ingest about a kilo of cocaine and try to smuggle the 
drugs to their destination.  Many have been apprehended when 
attempting to depart through Nigeria's international airports as a 
result of the use of modern scanning equipment donated to Nigeria by 
the U.S. State Department anti-drug assistance program. 
 
Nigerian organized criminal networks are a major factor in moving 
cocaine and heroin worldwide.  Many of these organizations are not 
based in Nigeria, but there is ample evidence that large quantities 
of both cocaine and heroin transit Nigeria for markets in the West. 
In addition to drug trafficking, some of these organizations are 
also engaged in advance-fee fraud and other forms of fraud against 
U.S. citizens and businesses.  These include document fabrication, 
illegal immigration, and financial fraud. Their ties to criminals in 
the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, and South Africa are 
well documented.  Nigerian poly-crime organizations exact 
significant financial and societal costs, especially among West 
African states with limited resources for countering these 
organizations. 
 
Despite significant oil revenues and a growing economy, Nigeria has 
been unable to tackle the problem of poverty for the vast majority 
of Nigerians.  Widespread under/unemployment also contributes 
significantly to the continuation and expansion of drug trafficking. 
  Corruption makes the traffickers' task easier. These factors, 
combined with Nigeria's central location along the major trafficking 
routes and access to global narcotics markets, have provided both an 
incentive and mechanism for criminal groups to flourish and for 
Nigeria to emerge as a major drug trafficking hub. 
 
Heroin from Southeast and Southwest Asia that is smuggled via 
Nigeria accounts for a significant portion of the heroin reaching 
the United States. Nigerian criminal elements, operating in South 
America, trans-ship cocaine through Nigeria to Europe, Asia, and 
other parts of Africa. South Africa is a major destination for 
Nigerian-trafficked cocaine within Africa. 
 
In Nigeria, the only drug that is being cultivated in significant 
amounts domestically is Cannabis Sativa (marijuana). Home-grown 
marijuana is Nigeria's most common drug of abuse and is exported to 
neighboring West African countries and to Europe, but not in 
significant quantities to the United States. Nigeria is a party to 
the 1988 UN Drug Convention. 
 
II. Status of Country 
 
Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is 
responsible for the enforcement of laws against illicit drug 
trafficking.  It also plays the lead role in demand reduction, drug 
control policy formulation and implementation in the country. In 
2008, the NDLEA requested and justified its budget, which totals 
$55,649,307.  Funds for capital projects alone total $10,462,458. 
NDLEA has 46 field operational commands, seven (7) established 
Directorates and nine (9) autonomous units and offices that work 
together to carry out the drug control mandate of the Agency. 
Additionally, the recent computerization of the Agency's 
administrative and accounting statistics ensures greater efficiency 
and transparency than in the past. Cooperation among Nigeria's law 
enforcement agencies still leaves much to be desired.  For instance, 
although all law enforcement elements are represented at Nigeria's 
international ports of entry, joint operations between them are 
virtually non-existent. A missing ingredient partially explaining 
the dearth of apprehensions of major traffickers or the absence of 
consistent interdiction of major shipments of contraband is 
interagency cooperation. No single law enforcement agency in Nigeria 
has adequate resources to combat the increasingly sophisticated 
international criminal networks that operate in and through the 
country itself; inter-agency cooperation is necessary for success. 
 
III. Country Actions against Drugs in 2008 
 
Policy Initiatives: Nigeria's counter-narcotics policy is based on 
the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP), which has been in 
 
place since 1998. This plan assigns responsibilities to various 
government ministries and agencies as well as NGOs and other 
interest groups. In addition, the Master Plan outlines basic 
resource requirements and timeframes for the completion of 
objectives. Unfortunately, many of these goals remain unfulfilled. 
 
Law Enforcement Efforts: The NDLEA works alongside Nigerian Customs, 
the State Security Service, the National Agency for Food and Drug 
Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Nigerian Police Force 
(NPF), and the Nigerian Immigration Service at various ports of 
entry and throughout the country. However, the NDLEA's most 
successful interdictions have taken place at Nigeria's four 
international airports, with the majority of hard drug seizures 
(e.g., cocaine and heroin) at Lagos Murtala Mohammed International 
Airport. (Note: Port Harcourt's airport was not utilized for 
international flights prior to June 2008. End note.)   In addition, 
increasing numbers of drug couriers are being apprehended at Abuja 
International Airport. Although the agency continues to successfully 
apprehend individual drug couriers transiting these airports, there 
were no arrests of major drug traffickers in 2008. An essential 
factor in the increased arrests of couriers has been the 
installation of Digital Body Scanners donated by the US State 
Department's anti-drug assistance project.  These "body scanners" 
have been in operation at Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja 
International Airports since approximately March of 2008. 
 
Many observers believe that if Nigeria introduced a vigorous 
anti-drug enforcement regime at its five major seaports, they too 
would yield significant results. 
 
As noted above, Nigeria's main domestic drug abuse problem is the 
use of marijuana.  In the past year, NDLEA continued to emphasize a 
high-profile campaign to destroy the annual Cannabis Sativa crop 
grown countrywide before it can reach domestic drug abusers. In 
addition to a significant number of acres of cannabis publicly 
destroyed on site, a total of one hundred and sixty seven metric 
tons (167) of hard drugs of which cannabis constituted the largest 
proportion (over 95%) has been burnt during the on-going campaign. 
 
Cocaine has now emerged as one of Nigeria's most challenging drug 
abuse problems mainly due to recreational use by the small elite, 
for which it is affordable. At least some share of the cocaine being 
seized in Nigeria seems to have been refined in West Africa, not 
trafficked as cocaine from Latin America. Drug traffickers take 
advantage of lax enforcement in Nigeria and some of the other West 
African countries such as Guinea-Bissau to "warehouse" bulk 
quantities of drugs, until they can be trafficked to developed 
country markets by a myriad of low level drug mules employed by 
traffickers. Moreover, trafficking drugs is made easier because it 
is so difficult to effectively police Nigeria's extensive borders 
due to their porosity and the cultural links between border 
communities living in different countries along both sides of land 
borders. 
 
Between October 2007 and September 2008, the various NDLEA commands 
apprehended approximately 4,240 narcotics suspects and seized the 
following quantities of illicit drugs: 
 
CannabisCocaineHeroinePsychotropic 
Subs293,852.76kg278.641kg10.275kg259.109kg 
 
In the past year, the NDLEA prosecuted 1,239 drug suspects, which 
resulted in 1,231 convictions and 8 acquittals.  In addition, a 
significant number of vehicles used to commit crimes have been 
seized by NDLEA. 
 
Unfortunately, attempts by the NDLEA to apprehend and prosecute 
major traffickers and their associates often fail. Sometimes the 
failures are traceable to the lack of capacity of NDLEA itself to 
successfully assemble a case against the higher echelons of 
ons of 
sophisticated organized criminal gangs. Other times it is the 
Nigerian courts' inability to deal with intimidation and corruption. 
NDLEA is attempting to improve its capacity to investigate and 
prosecute complex crime through training.  In an additional attempt 
to improve drug law enforcement, NDLEA has requested that the 
National Assembly amend Nigeria's basic narcotics law to provide a 
more strict and effective punishment for major traffickers by 
requiring a minimum sentence of 5-years in jail with no option for 
the payment of a simple fine.  In an attempt to fix another 
significant enforcement problem, NDLEA wants a new provision for the 
seizure of a Nigerian citizen's foreign passport or residency papers 
during any pre-trial period. NDLEA is also trying to keep track of 
the foreign travel of certain Nigerian citizens and other 
 
individuals suspected of involvement in narcotics trafficking. About 
826 people were monitored between January 2008 and June 2008 for 
various reasons during travels to drug source countries.  NDLEA also 
can petition the court to withdraw a suspected foreign drug 
trafficker's residence permit for Nigeria, and expel him or her from 
Nigerian territory. 
 
Asset seizures from narcotics traffickers and money launderers, 
while permitted under Nigerian law, have never been systematically 
utilized as an enforcement tool, although some convicted traffickers 
have had their assets forfeited over the years. In 2008, 
approximately $85,470 in domestic currency equivalent has been 
seized and investigations are ongoing on 14 other cases. NDLEA also 
points to the seizure of foreign currencies totaling $1,937,478 some 
of which represents stolen money, counterfeit US dollars, money 
orders and travelers' checks. 
 
NDLEA officers are also frequently poorly trained. Consequently, 
NDLEA has mandated that all its officers undergo re-training at the 
basic level and mid-level before qualifying for promotion under the 
new promotion scheme. 
 
Corruption 
 
Corruption plays a major role in drug trafficking around the world, 
and this is true in Nigeria, as well.  Illicit proceeds enable 
traffickers to use bribery and other means to protect their 
operations.    Nigerian authorities point to several indictments, 
including one lodged against a former Chairman of the Nigerian Drug 
Law Enforcement Agency itself, as evidence of their attempts to 
enforce laws against corruption.  Nigeria's ranking by Transparency 
International improved somewhat in the last published report. 
Corruption remains a serious problem in Nigeria, however. 
 
Agreements and Treaties 
 
Nigeria is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN 
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 
Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. 
Nigeria has signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized 
Crime, the Protocol against Trafficking in Persons, the Protocol 
against Smuggling of Migrants, and the Protocol against Trafficking 
in Illegal Firearms. The 1931 U.S.-UK Extradition Treaty, which was 
made applicable to Nigeria in 1935, is the legal basis for U.S. 
extradition requests. The United States and Nigeria also have a 
Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT), which entered into force on 
January 14, 2003. 
 
The Government of Nigeria continues to work on a mechanism to 
process U.S. extradition requests expeditiously while observing due 
process under Nigerian law. Currently, a dedicated prosecutorial 
team handles all U.S. extradition cases before a specifically 
designated High Court judge.  Nigerian law still affords the 
defendant many options to delay/confuse proceedings, especially 
interlocutory objection proceedings, which allow defendants to raise 
objections that are litigated to conclusion first before the main 
case can proceed.  The only U.S. drug extradition request pending is 
the case of Kayode Lawrence a.k.a. "Papa". This request has been 
pending since June 2004.  Another hearing on the extradition request 
is expected before the end of 2008. 
 
Cultivation/Production 
Cannabis is the only illicit drug produced in any large quantity in 
Nigeria; it is cultivated in all of Nigeria's 36 states. Most major 
cultivation takes place in central and northern Nigeria and in Delta 
and Ondo states in the south. Marijuana, or "Indian Hemp" as it is 
known locally, is sold in Nigeria and exported throughout West 
Africa and into Europe. To date, there is no evidence of significant 
marijuana exports from Nigeria to the United States. The NDLEA has 
continued to pursue an aggressive and successful eradication 
campaign. 
 
Drug Flow/Transit 
Nigeria is a major staging point for Southeast and Southwest Asian 
heroin smuggled to Europe and the United States and for South 
American cocaine trafficked to Europe. However, there are 
indications that the preferred methods of trans-shipment have 
changed. The NDLEA unit at Lagos' Murtala Mohammed International 
Airport conducts select searches of passengers and carry-on baggage, 
focusing on travelers who fit a profile as a possible drug courier. 
The efforts of NDLEA have been bolstered by the donation of Digital 
Body Scanners by the USG. The scanners have ensured that drug 
couriers face a significant likelihood of detection at the 
international airports. Nigeria's seaports and land borders remain 
 
 
extremely porous and efforts should be made to increase interdiction 
efforts at these locations. 
 
Domestic Programs/Demand Reduction. 
Local production and use of cannabis has been a problem in Nigeria 
for some time; however, according to the NDLEA and NGOs, the abuse 
of harder drugs (e.g., cocaine, heroin) seems to be on the rise. 
Heroin and cocaine are readily available in many of Nigeria's larger 
cities. (Note: Since there is no formal tracking system or 
statistical evidence available, the actual extent of domestic drug 
abuse in Nigeria is unclear.)  The NDLEA's Directorate of Demand 
Reduction carried out public awareness campaigns in various commands 
nationwide. Workshops and seminars have been conducted to address 
the effects of drug abuse and trafficking in Nigerian society. The 
NDLEA counseled and rehabilitated 1,586 drug abuse clients during 
¶2008.  NDLEA has also made 35 referrals to private counseling 
centers, which have approximately 106 existing clients undergoing 
counseling and treatment. The NDLEA has conducted a public survey to 
collect and analyze drug abuse data. The basic conclusion of the 
analysis indicates that younger unmarried males topped the list of 
drug abusers. In addition, the survey confirmed that cannabis 
remains the most frequently abused drug in the country. The Nigerian 
Government through the 2008 Appropriation Act is financing a planned 
$42,735 Drug Abuse Public Awareness program in 2009 which will cover 
the whole country. 
 
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs 
 
Policy Initiatives. U.S.-Nigerian counter-narcotics cooperation 
focuses on interdiction efforts at major international entry points 
and on enhancing the professionalism of the NDLEA and other law 
enforcement agencies. The State Department's International Narcotics 
and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Assistance Program in Nigeria 
along with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) works closely with the 
NDLEA and other narcotics-related agencies to help train, Nigerian 
law enforcement so that they can better coordinate plan and 
implement internal and regional interdiction operations. At all 
levels, USG representatives enjoy excellent access to their 
counterparts and there is an evident desire on both sides to 
strengthen these relationships. 
 
The Road Ahead. Nigeria's own federal funding for Nigerian law 
enforcement agencies remains insufficient and erratic in its 
disbursement. This inadequate budget execution and lack of 
consistency affects the planning of actions on the part of these 
agencies, and creates an impression that there is little commitment 
on the part of government authorities to effectively enforce the 
laws. Unless the Nigerian Government remedies this situation, very 
little progress will be made quickly, and none sustained over the 
long term. It will require strong and sustained political will and 
continued international assistance for any Nigerian government to 
confront these difficult issues and bring about meaningful change. 
 
The U.S. government's counter-narcotics assistance to Nigeria from 
February 2001 to date totals over $3 million. 
 
The U.S. government will continue to engage Nigeria on the issues of 
counter-narcotics, money laundering and other international crimes. 
The underlying institutional and societal factors that contribute to 
narcotics-trafficking, money-laundering and other criminal 
activities in Nigeria are deep-seated and require a comprehensive 
and collaborative effort at all levels of law enforcement and 
government. Progress can only be made through Nigeria's own 
sustained effort and political will, and the continued support of 
the international community. 
 
SANDERS