NDLEA busts meth laboratory in Oyo forest

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered and dismantled a fortified industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory hidden deep within a forest in Oyo State, arresting a Mexican drug manufacturing expert and four Nigerian collaborators in what authorities described as a major blow against transnational drug trafficking networks.

The clandestine laboratory in Oyo, located in Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the state, was raided on June 17 by NDLEA tactical operatives following intelligence gathering and surveillance operations.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), represented by the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the operation exposed a sophisticated drug manufacturing syndicate with international links.

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According to Marwa, the suspects arrested at the laboratory site in Oyo included a 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine specialist, Jose Villa Ochoa, who was allegedly brought into Nigeria to provide technical expertise for large-scale drug production.

The four Nigerian suspects arrested alongside him were identified as Maxwell Uche Nevoh, 30; Olatunji Yusuf, 37; Bankole Akeem Owolabi, 45; and Ganiu Monsiu, 43.

“This was not a rudimentary setup; it was a sophisticated, highly organised transnational syndicate,” Marwa said.

He noted that the arrest of a foreign drug expert on Nigerian soil highlighted both the international dimension of the drug trade and the agency’s intelligence capabilities in tracking and dismantling criminal networks.

Following the raid, a specialised team from the NDLEA Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring conducted a detailed forensic examination of the facility on June 18, uncovering what officials described as a factory-scale production line for methamphetamine.

Among the chemicals recovered were large quantities of Phenyl-2-propanone (P2P), a key precursor used in methamphetamine production, drums containing phenylacetic acid, sulphuric acid, caustic soda, tartaric acid, ethyl phenylacetate, thioglycolic acid, and other substances used in the drug manufacturing process.

The agency also recovered industrial equipment, including a reactor pot, mounted distillation units, fabricated mixers and condensers, and vegetable dehydrator machines used in processing and drying methamphetamine crystals.

According to NDLEA, preliminary field tests conducted by forensic experts confirmed that samples recovered from the laboratory tested positive for methamphetamine, while additional samples were identified as phenylacetic acid.

Marwa said all exhibits had been evacuated, documented, and preserved for presentation in court as evidence.

He described the seizure as another multi-billion-naira disruption of illicit drug production capable of flooding communities with millions of doses of synthetic drugs.

The NDLEA chairman noted that the discovery comes barely four weeks after the agency dismantled another large methamphetamine laboratory in a forest in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.

He warned that the proximity of the two facilities suggested an attempt by drug cartels to establish a synthetic drug manufacturing hub in the South-West region.

“Let the message go out clearly to all drug cartels, domestic and international, that Nigeria is not, and will never be, a safe haven for your illicit trade. We will find you in the cities, we will track you into the forests, and we will dismantle your infrastructure of death,” he said.

Marwa commended officers of the NDLEA Oyo State Command for their professionalism, courage, and commitment in carrying out the operation.