‎NDLEA Raid Industrial-Scale Meth Lab in Oyo Forest, Arrests Mexican Drug Expert, Four Others

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a sprawling industrial-scale drug laboratory hidden in a forest in Oyo State, arresting a Mexican drug specialist and four Nigerian collaborators.
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‎The operation, carried out in Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, led to the recovery of multi-billion-naira worth of illicit substances, precursor chemicals and sophisticated drug-manufacturing equipment.
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‎Addressing journalists in Abuja on Wednesday, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), represented by the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the laboratory was a highly fortified facility designed for large-scale methamphetamine production.
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‎According to Marwa, operatives raided the forest hideout on June 17, arresting five key members of the syndicate, including 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, who was allegedly recruited to provide technical expertise for the operation.
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‎The other suspects were identified as Maxwell Uche Nevoh, 30; Olatunji Yusuf, 37; Bankole Akeem Owolabi, 45; and Ganiu Monsiu, 43.
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‎Marwa said the arrests highlight the growing involvement of international criminal networks in Nigeria’s illicit drug trade and underscore the agency’s intelligence-driven efforts to combat the threat.
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‎A subsequent forensic examination of the facility uncovered a factory-scale production line stocked with large quantities of controlled chemicals and industrial processing equipment used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.
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‎Recovered items included drums of Phenyl-2-propanone (P2P), Phenylacetic Acid, sulphuric acid, caustic soda, tartaric acid and other chemical compounds, alongside reactors, distillation units, condensers, mixers and dehydrator machines.
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‎The NDLEA boss noted that the discovery came barely four weeks after the agency dismantled another large methamphetamine laboratory concealed in a forest in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.
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‎He warned drug trafficking organisations that the agency would continue to pursue and dismantle their operations wherever they are located.
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‎”We will find you in the cities, track you into the forests, and dismantle your infrastructure of death,” Marwa declared, reaffirming the agency’s commitment to disrupting synthetic drug production across the country.