The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has dismantled a large Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine production syndicate and arrested 10 suspects, including the cartel’s kingpin, three Mexican nationals, and six Nigerian collaborators. The operation, carried out on May 16 by NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit, shut down what the agency calls the biggest clandestine meth lab ever found in Nigeria.
The industrial-scale facility was hidden in Abidagba forest, Ijebu East LGA, Ogun State. A second team raided the Lekki residence of the alleged leader, Anochili Innocent, in Lagos, where he was arrested. NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa said the raids followed months of intelligence gathering and involved simultaneous strikes across Ogun and Lagos over 48 hours.
Officials recovered 2,419.48kg of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals worth $362.9 million, about N480 billion, in the international market. The haul included highly toxic chemicals, industrial solvents, finished meth, a Toyota Tacoma used at the lab, and a Toyota Highlander seized from the kingpin’s home.
Those arrested at the forest lab include Nigerians Nwankwo Sunday Christian, Igwe Abuchi Remijus, Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike Joshua, Egwuonwu Uchenna Victor, and Mexicans Martinez Felix Nemecto, Jesus López Valles, and Torrero Juan Carlos. Follow-up operations on May 18 led to the arrest of another suspect, Kingsley Orike Omonughwa, and the raid of a property allegedly used as the cartel’s stash house.
Marwa said the bust, coming two weeks after the takedown of the Simon Amadi drug trafficking organisation, sends a clear message that “Nigeria is a hostile territory” for drug cartels. He warned that the 2.4 tons of meth seized represented millions of doses that would have flooded local and international markets, fueling violence and psychosis.
