The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has raised the alarm over attempts by international drug cartels to establish large-scale drug production bases in Nigeria, particularly in forests across Ogun and Oyo states.
The agency disclosed that Mexican-linked criminal networks were behind efforts to establish industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratories in the two states as part of a move to strengthen their foothold in Nigeria’s illicit drug market.
NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this on Thursday during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State.
Babafemi said recent operations had uncovered activities in the forests, while a separate operation in Ebonyi State also resulted in arrests.
“We’ve seen recently the collaboration between the Nigerian-Mexican cartels trying to have methamphetamine laboratories in the forests of Ogun and Oyo State,” he said.
He said the development showed the increasingly international character of drug trafficking, with foreign criminal networks seeking to establish operational bases in Nigeria.
According to him, the NDLEA is strengthening intelligence sharing with other Nigerian security agencies and international law enforcement partners to dismantle such networks at their sources.
Babafemi said traffickers were also changing their routes in response to increased enforcement at Nigerian airports and seaports, with some allegedly moving drugs through neighbouring countries before attempting to bring them into Nigeria.
He cited the dismantling of a cartel operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor, which he said had contributed for years to the supply of opioids fuelling drug abuse among Nigerian youths.
The NDLEA spokesman also disclosed that the agency was monitoring drug trafficking activities on social media, the dark web and cryptocurrency networks.
He said the monitoring had resulted in several arrests, while NDLEA officers were receiving specialised training in financial investigation, asset tracing and recovery of proceeds from narcotics trafficking.
Babafemi also warned social media influencers against glamorising illicit drug use, saying the agency was working with the Actors Guild of Nigeria and the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria to discourage the promotion of narcotics.
He said the approach combined enforcement with engagement in an effort to change the messages being promoted by influencers.
The NDLEA spokesman said the agency’s concerns now went beyond cannabis, cocaine and tramadol to synthetic drugs, including methamphetamine and Captagon.
He explained that cocaine was imported from South America through Africa for onward movement to Europe and other destinations, while the huge international value of narcotics continued to attract organised criminal networks.
Babafemi disclosed that the methamphetamine laboratory discovered in an Ogun forest had the capacity to produce drugs worth almost half a trillion naira.
“What was to come out of the meth lab in the Ogun Forest was almost half a trillion Naira in value,” he said.
He further disclosed that the NDLEA Marine Command recently intercepted consignments of cocaine, methamphetamine and cannabis on the high seas in Akwa Ibom State, allegedly destined for Cameroon.
According to him, personnel of the Marine Command had received specialised training in countries including the United Kingdom, United States and Brazil.
Babafemi said the agency had also strengthened its operational capacity through the acquisition of arms, ammunition, protective equipment, night-vision devices and bulletproof vehicles.
He disclosed that modern AK-47 rifles had been introduced into the NDLEA armoury for the first time, while residential facilities were being provided for officers in Yola, Lagos, Abuja and Enugu to protect personnel and their families from possible retaliation.
The NDLEA spokesman said the agency was determined to prevent criminal organisations from exploiting forests, waterways, digital platforms and international routes as ungoverned spaces for drug production and trafficking.
“We’re ensuring that they don’t have that space, the ungoverned space that they used to enjoy before now, that’s no longer the case,” he said.
