NDLEA DISMANTLES METH LABORATORY IN EBONYI, ARRESTS MEXICAN NATIONAL
By: Safiya Abdulrahim Dabban
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a Mexican national suspected of involvement in the illicit drug trade.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed this during a media briefing in Lagos.
Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the operation followed months of investigation into a wider network behind clandestine drug laboratories uncovered in different parts of the country.
According to him, NDLEA operatives raided a property linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike in Ebonyi State after discovering a suspicious temporary structure at the location.
The operation led to the recovery of methamphetamine-related chemicals, equipment and other materials suspected to have been used in the production of the illicit drug.
The agency said the operation was part of a wider crackdown that had earlier led to the arrest of Mexican nationals and their Nigerian collaborators in connection with clandestine laboratories in Ogun and Oyo states.
Marwa said the agency would continue to prevent international drug cartels from establishing illicit laboratories in Nigeria’s forests and rural communities.
He commended personnel from the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi commands for their role in the operations.