The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has dismantled a major Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine syndicate, arresting a suspected drug baron, three Mexican nationals and six Nigerian collaborators in coordinated operations across Ogun State and Lagos State.
The operation led to the discovery of what the agency described as the largest clandestine meth laboratory ever uncovered in Nigeria, hidden in the Abidagba forest in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, NDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, said the operation followed months of intelligence gathering and simultaneous raids carried out within 48 hours.
“Today, I am proud to announce that the NDLEA has struck another crippling blow to the heart of transnational organized crime,” Marwa said.
“Through a clinical, simultaneous operation executed by the elite operatives of our Special Operations Unit (SOU), we have successfully dismantled a sophisticated, transnational methamphetamine production syndicate run jointly by a Nigerian drug cartel and their Mexican counterparts.”
According to him, the forest laboratory was operated by the Anochili Innocent Drug Trafficking Organization.
“Among those arrested are three (3) Mexican nationals brought into the country specifically to cook this deadly substance, alongside four (4) Nigerian collaborators,” he said.
The Mexicans were identified as Martinez Felix Nemecto, Jesus López Valles and Torrero Juan Carlos.
NDLEA operatives also arrested the alleged kingpin, Anochili Innocent, at his residence in Lakowe, Lekki, Lagos, where investigators recovered the passports and mobile phones of the Mexican suspects.
Further operations led to the arrest of two additional Nigerian suspects, bringing the total number of people in custody to 10.
Marwa said the agency recovered 2,419.48 kilograms of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals valued at $362.9 million, equivalent to more than N480 billion.
“The operation yielded a massive 2,419.48 kilograms (over 2.4 tons) of chemical materials, including highly toxic, volatile, and crystallized methamphetamine worth Three Hundred and Sixty-Two Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Two Thousand Dollars ($362,922,000.00) in the international market. This translates to over Four Hundred and Eighty Billion Naira (N480,000,000,000.00),” he said.
Warning drug traffickers, Marwa declared: “Let it be known that no matter how deep into the bush you hide, no matter how secure your gated estate is, the NDLEA will hunt you down, disrupt your networks, and seize your ill-gotten wealth.”
He urged Nigerians to report suspicious activities, noting that the laboratory had been disguised as an ordinary farm.
“This war is for the soul of our nation, and we will not back down until we achieve a drug-free Nigeria,” Marwa added.
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