The Chairman/Chief Executive, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (Rtd.) is to chair the first annual Africa Targeting Working Group meeting of International Drug Enforcement Conference, IDEC. The meeting will be held at the Capital Menlyn Main Hotel in Pretoria, South Africa from January 23 to 24, 2018.
The invitation is at the instance of United States’ Drug Enforcement Administration, USDEA which is the key facilitator of IDEC. According to Andre W. Kellum who conveyed the invitation, “We here at DEA are sincerely appreciative of your support and efforts in the battle against drug crimes.”The purpose of the Africa Targeting Working Group meeting is to discuss the Drug Trafficking Organizations operating throughout Africa with drug trafficking networks cutting across borders.
The meeting is also to prepare the African region for the forthcoming IDEC meeting in Rotterdam, Netherlands in April 2018.Col. Abdallah has described the invitation as a product of Nigeria’s leading role in ensuring that the entire Africa region is on the same page in combating the illicit drug trafficking challenge. The Chairman further said: “This alarming trend in the emergence of new psychoactive substances both synthetic and plant based has further reinforced the need for regional and multi-lateral cooperation against Drug Trafficking Organizations”. He stressed that “this meeting coming up very early in the year is a warning sign to the drug trafficking organizations that this year 2018 will be full of troubles for their organizations and networks”.
The Agency under the leadership of Col. Abdallah has continued to enjoy robust training and logistic support and exchange of intelligence from the international partners.
