The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says it has dismantled one of the largest methamphetamine production networks ever uncovered in Nigeria, seizing drugs and chemical materials valued at about $363 million and arresting 10 suspects, including three Mexican nationals.
The agency disclosed that coordinated operations carried out over 48 hours in Ogun State and Lagos State uncovered an industrial-scale clandestine laboratory hidden inside the Abidagba forest area of Ogun State.
According to the NDLEA, operatives recovered about 2.4 tonnes of methamphetamine alongside large quantities of precursor chemicals and drug production equipment.
NDLEA Chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa said seven suspects, including three Mexicans allegedly serving as methamphetamine “cooks,” were arrested during raids on the forest laboratory.
The agency also identified a Nigerian suspect, Anochili Innocent, as the alleged mastermind behind the syndicate. He was reportedly arrested separately at his residence in Lagos.
Additional follow-up operations later increased the total number of arrests to 10.
Marwa said the operation followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance that exposed a network importing foreign expertise to establish local drug manufacturing operations inside Nigeria.
The NDLEA warned that the scale of the seizure reflects a growing trend among international drug cartels to shift production operations into Nigeria and other parts of West Africa.
Security analysts say porous borders, expanding logistics routes and increasing links between West African criminal groups and Latin American trafficking organizations have made the region increasingly attractive for illicit drug operations.
The agency described the seized quantity as equivalent to millions of street-level doses and one of the most significant synthetic drug busts recorded in the country.
Marwa said the agency would intensify operations targeting both local and transnational narcotics networks operating across Nigeria.
“This operation exposes the dangerous expansion of international drug cartels into local manufacturing,” the NDLEA chief said, adding that authorities remain committed to dismantling criminal syndicates threatening public safety and national security.
The latest seizure comes amid growing concern over Nigeria’s role not only as a transit corridor for narcotics trafficking but increasingly as a production base for synthetic drugs destined for regional and international markets.
