The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it has dismantled a highly sophisticated, multi-million-dollar Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine production syndicate.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said this in a statement on Wednesday.
The statement said the operation, executed by elite operatives of the agency’s Special Operations Unit (SOU), led to the shutdown of an industrial-scale clandestine laboratory, the biggest ever discovered in Nigeria.
According to the statement, the drug laboratory was hidden in a remote forest in the Ijebu area of Ogun state. It noted that the seizure of the largest multi-billion-dollar meth in history led to the arrest of the cartel’s kingpin, three Mexican technical experts, and six other top local collaborators.
Announcing the details of the operation at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, said following months of painstaking and credible intelligence gathering, operatives of a Special Operations Unit of the agency launched well-coordinated strikes across Ogun and Lagos states within a space of 48 hours last week.
Mr Marwa, a Brigadier-General, said: “Today, I am proud to announce that the NDLEA has struck another crippling blow to the heart of transnational organised crime. 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.”
He said this network did not just traffic drugs; they were actively manufacturing industrial-scale quantities of highly lethal illicit substances right on “our soil, threatening the national security and public health of Nigeria,” he added.
“After months of painstaking, credible intelligence, our operatives on Saturday, 16 May 2026, launched a well-coordinated, simultaneous strike in both Ogun and Lagos states.
“The primary target was a remote farm located at Abidagba forest, in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun state. This farm was being used as a massive, highly dangerous clandestine methamphetamine laboratory by the Anochili Innocent Drug Trafficking Organisation (DTO).
“At the farm in the Ijebu forest, our operatives overran the clandestine laboratory in Ogun State, securing the perimeter and catching the syndicates completely off-guard. At this laboratory, we apprehended seven key members of the cartel processing illicit substances,” Mr Marwa said.
He said the operation confirmed intelligence regarding the importation of foreign technical expertise by local cartels.
“Among those arrested are three Mexican nationals brought into the country specifically to cook this deadly substance, alongside four Nigerian collaborators. The suspects arrested in the forest lab are: Nwankwo Sunday Christian, 41; Igwe Abuchi Remijus, 42; Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike Joshua, 23; and Egwuonwu Uchenna Victor, 38; as well as the three Mexican meth experts: Martinez Felix Nemecto, 46; Jesus López Valles, 40; and Torrero Juan Carlos, 51,” he said.
Simultaneously, he said another tactical team closed in on the luxury residence of the cartel’s mastermind, Anochili Innocent, located at No.8 Tafawa Balewa Street, Golf Estate, Lakowe, Lekki area of Lagos State.
He said the drug baron was cornered and arrested.
“A meticulous search of his premises led to the recovery of the international passports and mobile phones of the three arrested Mexican cooks, directly linking him to the importation and management of the foreign criminals.”
Follow-up arrests
He said a relentless follow-up operation on Monday, 18 May, led NDLEA operatives to another property owned by the baron at House 70, Close 3, Mayfair Estate, Lakowe, Lekki, Lagos, where another key member of the syndicate, Kingsley Orike Omonughwa, 44, was arrested.
He said investigators stormed the residence of another syndicate member, Emeka Nwobum, whose property served as the cartel’s strategic stash house.
“The arrest brings to 10 the total number of cartel members, including the baron, the three Mexican specialists, and six Nigerian collaborators, who are currently in NDLEA custody,” he added.
Providing further details of the operation, the NDLEA boss said he equally directed the deployment of the agency’s specialised chemical and forensic team to the clandestine laboratory to test, weigh, and secure the chemical components.
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“The operation yielded a massive 2,419.48 kilograms (over 2.4 tons) of chemical materials, including highly toxic, volatile, and crystallised methamphetamine worth $362,922,000.00 in the international market. This translates to over N480 billion.”
Also recovered from the cartel, he said, include: a Toyota Tacoma vehicle used for operations at the clandestine meth laboratory, and a Toyota Highlander seized from the kingpin’s residence.
“To put this in perspective, the 2,419.48 kilograms of finished and liquid methamphetamine seized represents millions of street doses that would have flooded our local communities and international markets, causing untold destruction, psychosis, and violence,” he said.
Call for public vigilance
He urged Nigerians to remain vigilant, adding that the forest lab in Ogun state was operating under the guise of a regular farm.
“Report suspicious activities, strange chemical odours, or unusual movements in your localities. This war is for the soul of our nation, and we will not back down until we achieve a drug-free Nigeria,” he added.
