MHA Nod for MoU between Indian & Nigerian drug control agencies

The Union home ministry has cleared a proposal for signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between India's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursor chemicals.

The move comes after a meeting between the heads of the NCB and NDLEA following the 'No Money for Terror Conference' in Delhi in November last year.

In 2021, 798 Nigerian nationals were arrested across India for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking, cheating, forgery and foreigners Act, among other crimes. The highest number of cases (245) pertained to drug trafficking, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.


The MoU will pave the way for cooperation between Indian and Nigerian anti-drug trafficking agencies. The two sides will exchange vital intelligence on the activities of drug trafficking syndicates operating vulnerable drug routes between both countries, list of suspects arrested, seizures and major drug smuggling syndicates active in India and Nigeria.

Nigeria's interior minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola had met Union home minister Amit Shah at the NMFT conference in November 2022 to discuss bilateral issues. The issue of a large number of Nigerian nationals arrested on charge of drug peddling was taken up during the meeting of two ministers and it was decided that those arrested should face the law.