German Experts Retrain NDLEA Canine Handlers to Sharpen Drug Detection at Lagos Ports and Airports

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has moved to strengthen its drug interdiction capacity by putting its canine handlers and service dogs through a specialised refresher training facilitated by German technical experts.

The training, held at the NDLEA Canine Unit Facility in Lagos, was conducted in collaboration with Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, the Bundeskriminalamt, and led by two German dog-handling experts, Andreas Roscher and Jacqueline Shüler.

Eleven Canine Unit personnel participated in the exercise, comprising the unit commander, two veterinary doctors and eight dog handlers alongside their service dogs. Five additional officers from NDLEA commands in Lagos who expressed interest in joining the unit also took part.

The course covered advanced obedience and control, narcotics detection techniques, scent imprinting and search patterns, as well as handler safety and tactics for deploying canine assets in high-risk environments.

Participants conducted real-life simulation exercises at the baggage hall of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, APM Terminals Apapa and the MMIA NAHCO export shed.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), described the exercise as a demonstration of the agency’s commitment to building a highly skilled workforce capable of matching the sophistication of modern drug trafficking networks.

“Our canine teams remain one of the most potent assets in our detection and interdiction efforts, and this is why we will continue to invest in their retraining and welfare,” Marwa said.

He noted that the successes recorded at airports, seaports and border points in intercepting concealed narcotics were largely due to the dedication and sharpened instincts of the dogs and their handlers.

“This partnership with our German counterparts further strengthens that capacity and aligns our operations with global best practices,” Marwa added.

The NDLEA chairman also acknowledged manpower and logistics challenges facing the Canine Unit, including shortages of service dogs, personnel and boarding facilities, which limit its ability to provide adequate coverage across the country’s seaports, international airports and land borders.

He said plans were underway to address these gaps in line with a recommendation from the German experts that the refresher training be sustained as an annual exercise.

The training comes against the backdrop of the agency’s continuing drug detection operations.

In August, the NDLEA intercepted more than 3.9 million tablets of tramadol and tapentadol, as well as 47,200 pills of captagon, at MMIA Lagos, valuing the consignments at more than N6.2 billion.