The French government on Saturday assured the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) of more collaboration and support in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.

The assurance was given by the French Police Attaché in Nigeria, Phillipe Crespo when he led the trio of Messrs. Phillipe Barrau, Tony Albaladejo and Cedric Hocquette on a courtesy visit to the NDLEA in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the visit followed the conclusion of a series of special operations training for officers of the Strike Force Unit in NDLEA Academy in Jos and the third of such training in the last two years.

Speaking during the visit, Crespo commended Marwa for the warm reception always accorded the French team.

Crespo also lauded Marwa’s willingness to collaborate with local and international partners in his determined effort to curb the scourge of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria.

He said that the success of NDLEA’s operations was not only helping to protect Nigerians and Nigerian cities but also communities in foreign lands.

This, he said, was through the agency’s interdiction efforts that had led to huge seizures of assorted illicit drug consignments heading to Europe and other parts of the world.

“As a result, the French government through the French National Police will continue its support and collaboration with NDLEA,” he maintained.

He, however, proposed that the growing partnership should be documented in a memorandum of understanding in the new year.

In his remark, French technical expert, Phillipe Barrau praised the diligence, expertise and professionalism of NDLEA officers involved in the three weeks training exercise.

Barrau added that both sides had a lot to learn from each other while commending the support and capacity of the agency’s Academy, which made the programme seamless and successful.

In his response, Marwa expressed appreciation to the French government for its support and partnership.

“I remember in 2022 when I visited the headquarters of RAID in France on the invitation and I made a request for this type of training, I never knew it was something that would come so fast and this consistently.

“Soon after that visit, a team of experts were sent to train our personnel and I am glad this is the third of such exercises.

“The drug problem is huge worldwide, and as such, we require global partnership, collaboration and every bit of expertise we can acquire to confront the drug cartels.

“This will also help us put an end to their activities which pose a direct threat to public health and the security of countries across the globe.

“It is therefore a thing of joy that our collaboration is not just growing at the level of drug law enforcement, but we can see the growing partnership between our two leaders.

Marwa welcomed the proposed MoU and expressed his preparedness to see that the relationship between the two organisations continues to grow.