By Evelyn Usman

The German Government has applauded the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for what it described as its “professionalism and operational excellence” in preventing and countering drug trafficking.

Chairman/Chief Executive, NDLEA, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (rtd.) (l) and the visiting Vice President of the German Federal Criminal Investigation Office, Michael Kretschmer

The commendation was handed down by the Vice President of the German Federal Criminal Investigation Office, Michael Kretschmer during a visit to the national headquarters of the Agency, yesterday in Abuja .

According to Kreschmer, “We are here to acknowledge your consistent excellent performance over the years. Your indices are professional and reliable. I am here to appreciate your professional work and to ascertain whether our intervention meets your needs and to also find out your general impression of our collaborative efforts”.

The German Police Chief noted that through the NDLEA/German Government Canine Project, the Agency has been able to seize huge quantities of drugs.

“But the truth is, it is your work and diligence that have brought about these operational accomplishments. You have extremely committed canine officers. We have met the dogs donated to you by the German Government in very good shape”, Kreschmer noted.

In his response, Chairman/Chief Executive, NDLEA, Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (rtd.) who noted that the story of NDLEA could not be written without the interventions of the German government, through its generous donations of dogs, vehicles and continuous training of narcotic agents.

He informed that the NDLEA/German Government Canine Project which started in 2010 had yielded 26 major arrests, leading to the seizure of 17, 932 metric tons of sundry drugs within the country.

A total of nine officers, according to him, had so far been trained on various levels of narcotics detection dog handling proficiency, adding that 14 Narcotic detection dogs had so far been donated to the Agency by the German government.

“ This is in addition to the donation of two new Toyota Haice buses and a Mercedes Vito van. These numerous donations have made such a tremendous impact on the operations of the Agency at the international airports, sea ports and land borders”, the Chairman remarked.