The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered another industrial-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratory operated by a Nigerian-Mexican Cartel inside Oyo Forest.
The agency disclosed that it uncovered the methamphetamine lab within the forest of Tapa Village, Ibarapa North LGA, Oyo State.
The bust represents another decisive blow against transnational drug syndicates. Particularly, it comes nearly a month after the agency dismantled a similar industrial meth lab inside a forest in Ogun State.
According to the agency, the labs signals a desperate attempt by drug barons to turn the Southwest axis into a synthetic drug manufacturing hub.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, represented by Media Director Femi Babafemi revealed that the bust took place on June 17th, 2026.
“This was not a rudimentary setup; it was a sophisticated, highly organized transnational syndicate,” he added.
The operation led to the arrest of five key members of the cartel on-site. These include a 56-year-old Mexican Methamphetamine expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, brought in specifically to provide the technical expertise for large-scale synthesis.
The NDLEA also arrested four Nigerian collaborators providing logistical support, cover, and local operations. They are: Maxwell Uche Nevoh, 30; Olatunji Yusuf, 37; Bankole Akeem Owolabi, 45; and Ganiu Monsiu, 43.
The anti-drug agency expressed that;
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 neutralize them.
