The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has uncovered and dismantled a massive Nigeria-Mexico drug syndicate operating a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Ogun State, arresting 10 suspects, including three Mexican nationals.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), described the operation as the biggest meth lab bust ever recorded in Nigeria, revealing that illicit drugs and chemicals worth over N480bn were recovered during the raid.
“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 said.
According to him, the hidden laboratory was located inside Abidagba forest in Ijebu East LGA of Ogun State and was allegedly controlled by the Anochili Innocent Drug Trafficking Organisation.
The NDLEA boss disclosed that seven suspects, including three Mexicans identified as Martinez Felix Nemecto, Jesus López Valles, and Torrero Juan Carlos, were arrested at the forest lab, while alleged kingpin Anochili Innocent was later tracked down in Lekki, Lagos.
Marwa said operatives recovered 2,419.48kg of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals valued at $362.9m internationally, alongside vehicles and other operational items linked to the cartel.
“This network did not just traffic drugs; they were actively manufacturing industrial-scale quantities of highly lethal illicit substances right on our soil,” he stated.
The agency also warned that foreign drug cartels are increasingly partnering with local networks to establish drug production factories in Nigeria’s rural communities.
