The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has defended its decision to withhold portions of investigative records connected to a criminal investigation involving Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In a September 23, 2026 filing before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. government cited the protection of confidential sources, investigative techniques, and other law-enforcement information. This filing was part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by Aaron Greenspan.
The case, Aaron Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys et al., involves requests for records relating to Tinubu and other individuals in connection with a U.S. investigation into an alleged drug-trafficking and money-laundering operation. The government defended the DEA's use of several FOIA exemptions to withhold information contained in its investigative records. The filing referred to a declaration submitted by the DEA, identified as the Davis Declaration, as well as an accompanying Vaughn Index explaining the basis for the agency's withholding of information.
The plaintiff had challenged the DEA's Vaughn Index, arguing that it contained similar justification paragraphs and entries. The government rejected the criticism, explaining that the DEA records consisted of similar types of investigative documents, including DEA-6 Reports, DEA-292 Reports, and DEA-210 Reports. According to the government, because the records were similar investigative forms and types of investigative records, the justification for withholding information from them would naturally involve similar reasoning and exemptions.
The government said the DEA had fully addressed the potential harm that could result from disclosure of information relating to confidential sources in its declaration. The DEA stated that information related to confidential sources “could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source.” The agency further stated that information relating to confidential sources “has long been afforded the most comprehensive protection of all the FOIA exemptions.” The DEA considered the information sufficiently sensitive to remain withheld.
The DEA's position is that releasing the information could expose the identities of people who provided information to law enforcement, while the agency considers the protection of those sources to outweigh the public interest in disclosure. The government also defended the use of FOIA Exemption 7(E) to withhold non-public details of investigative techniques. The filing says the plaintiff conceded that the FBI could withhold “non-public details of investigative techniques,” but sought an order compelling the government to produce a redacted ex parte declaration filed under seal.
The September 23 filing is largely focused on the government's legal justification for withholding information. However, the broader court record establishes the connection between the FOIA litigation and Tinubu. In an April 2025 ruling in the same case, U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell addressed FOIA requests seeking criminal investigative records concerning Tinubu and Abiodun Agbele in connection with a federal investigation into an international drug-trafficking and money-laundering operation.
The court record identified “Tinubu, Bola Ahmed” among the individuals referenced in the relevant request. The earlier proceedings concerned requests for records from the FBI and DEA relating to a Nigerian heroin-distribution organisation that was active from approximately 1988 to 1994 or later. The filing does not disclose the substantive contents of the DEA records concerning Tinubu, but establishes that the DEA has investigative records within the scope of the FOIA litigation and is defending its decision to withhold portions of those records under specific FOIA exemptions.
Key points
- The DEA defends withholding records citing protection of confidential sources and investigative techniques.
- The case involves a U.S. investigation into an alleged drug-trafficking and money-laundering operation connected to Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
- The government invoked FOIA exemptions to justify withholding information from the investigative records.
