The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled what it described as the largest clandestine methamphetamine laboratory ever discovered in Nigeria, arresting a suspected drug baron, three Mexican nationals and six other collaborators.
The operation, carried out by the NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit, targeted a forest hideout in Ijebu-East local government area of Ogun State and properties linked to the syndicate in Lagos State.
Speaking at a media briefing in Abuja yesterday, the Chairman and CEO of the NDLEA, Mohammed Buba Marwa, said the operation followed months of intelligence-gathering and coordinated surveillance.
According to him, operatives launched simultaneous raids in Ogun and Lagos between May 16 and May 18.
“Through a clinical, simultaneous operation executed by the elite operatives of our Special Operations Unit, we have successfully dismantled a sophisticated, transnational methamphetamine production syndicate run jointly by a Nigerian drug cartel and their Mexican counterparts”, Marwa stated.
According to him, the methamphetamine factory in Ogun State was disguised as a regular farm. The Agency said seven suspects were initially arrested at the forest laboratory, including three Mexican nationals allegedly brought into Nigeria to manufacture methamphetamine.
The arrested suspects include Nwankwo Sunday Christian, Igwe Abuchi Remijus, Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike Joshua, Egwuonwu Uchenna Victor, alongside the three Mexican nationals identified as Martinez Felix Nemecto, Jesus López Valles and Torrero Juan Carlos.
Marwa said the latest operation, coming shortly after the takedown of another international drug syndicate linked to one Simon Amadi, sends a strong message to drug traffickers operating in Nigeria. “This war is for the soul of our nation, and we will not back down until we achieve a drug-free Nigeria”, Marwa stated.
