June 24 (THEWILL) — The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered and dismantled a sophisticated industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory hidden deep inside a forest in Oyo State, arresting a Mexican national described as a methamphetamine production expert and four Nigerian accomplices in what officials have called a breakthrough against transnational drug trafficking networks.
The operation, carried out by tactical operatives of the agency at Tapa Village in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, comes barely four weeks after the NDLEA dismantled another large clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in a forest in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Speaking at a press briefing at the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), represented by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the latest discovery exposed attempts by international drug cartels to establish the South-West region as a major centre for synthetic drug production.
Marwa disclosed that operatives stormed the highly fortified facility on June 17, 2026, following intelligence gathering and surveillance operations.
According to him, five key members of the cartel were arrested during the raid, including 56-year-old Mexican national, Jose Villa Ochoa, who was allegedly recruited to provide technical expertise for large-scale methamphetamine production.
The other suspects 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. The arrest of a foreign cartel specialist on Nigerian soil underscores the transnational nature of this threat, but more importantly, it underscores our Agency’s world-class intelligence capability to track, intercept, and neutralise them,” Marwa said.
Following the operation, a team from the agency’s Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring conducted a detailed examination of the facility and discovered what officials described as a factory-scale methamphetamine production line.
Among the materials recovered were large quantities of Phenyl-2-propanone (P2P), a highly controlled precursor chemical essential for methamphetamine production, alongside multiple drums containing Phenylacetic Acid, another major precursor used in the synthesis of P2P.
NDLEA operatives also recovered two 180-litre drums containing approximately 300 litres of a whitish crystalline substance and four additional drums containing dark liquid undergoing chemical synthesis.
Other chemicals seized included 101 bags of caustic soda weighing 25 kilograms each, 17 containers of sulphuric acid, 19 and a half containers of tartaric acid, five containers of Reniso Ultracool 68, 25 bottles of 80 per cent thioglycolic acid, two containers of ethyl phenylacetate, and 25 cartons of aluminium foil.
The agency further discovered heavy-duty industrial processing equipment, including a reactor pot used for chemical synthesis, two mounted distillation units, three fabricated mixers and condensers, as well as two vegetable dehydrator machines used for drying methamphetamine crystals.
Marwa said forensic experts conducted immediate field tests on substances recovered from the laboratory, confirming the presence of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals.
“Samples of the finished crystals recovered yielded a definitive positive result for methamphetamine. Furthermore, the crystalline substance from the 180-litre drum tested positive for Phenylacetic Acid.
“Every single gram of these exhibits has been safely evacuated, documented, and preserved for comprehensive and strict evidential presentation in court,” he stated.
The NDLEA boss described the laboratory as a multi-billion-naira illicit operation capable of producing millions of doses of synthetic drugs for local and international distribution.
He noted that the discovery of two major methamphetamine laboratories in forest locations within a month indicated a deliberate effort by drug trafficking organisations to evade detection while expanding production capacity.
“The proximity of the latest discovery to the Ogun State lab uncovered about four weeks ago reveals a desperate attempt by drug barons to establish a synthetic drug manufacturing hub in the South-West axis,” Marwa said.
He warned that the agency would continue to pursue drug traffickers and dismantle their operations wherever they may be located.
“Let the message go out clearly to all drug cartels, domestic and international, that Nigeria is not, and will never be, a 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.
“They thought hiding in dense forests would shield them from the long arm of the law. They were wrong,” he added.
Marwa commended officers of the NDLEA Oyo State Command for their professionalism and courage during the operation and also expressed appreciation to members of the public for providing credible intelligence that contributed to the successful raid.
He urged Nigerians to continue supporting the agency’s anti-narcotics campaign through timely information sharing, stressing that collective vigilance remained critical to preventing the spread of dangerous synthetic drugs across communities.
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