By Kingsley Omonobi
The United States has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for dismantling four methamphetamine laboratories linked to Mexican drug cartels in Nigeria, describing the operations as a demonstration of effective intelligence-led policing and international cooperation.
The commendation came from the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) for Africa and the Middle East, Michael Gonzales, during a visit to the NDLEA national headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
Gonzales, who was received by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), and members of the agency’s management team, said he chose Nigeria as his first destination after assuming office four months ago because of the country’s leadership role in Africa and the NDLEA’s operational achievements.
He said he wanted to see firsthand how the agency had recorded significant successes in combating illicit drug trafficking.
“When I was thinking where does it make the most sense to visit first, Nigeria was a clear answer,” Gonzales said.
He attributed the decision to Nigeria’s position as an economic powerhouse on the continent, the NDLEA’s leadership and the impressive results recorded by the agency and its inter-agency partners.
Gonzales cited the four methamphetamine laboratory busts recorded by the NDLEA in 2026 as evidence of effective intelligence gathering, inter-agency coordination, cross-border cooperation, operational execution and prosecution.
He said the operations demonstrated the importance of sustained collaboration between the United States and Nigeria in tackling the international drug trade.
According to him, narcotics trafficking has far-reaching consequences for communities and families in the United States, while the international nature of the trade makes cooperation between countries essential.
“The work of INL and the NDLEA fundamentally delivers for the Nigerian people, as for the American people,” he said.
Gonzales noted that the United States had maintained more than four decades of international partnerships in counter-narcotics operations, with assistance to Nigeria including training and equipment donations.
He also warned that intensified pressure on drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere could redirect trafficking routes towards Africa, with Europe and Oceania among the potential destinations.
He called for sustained action against transnational criminal organisations, including investigations into the financial networks that facilitate their operations.
NDLEA seeks sustained US support
In his remarks, Marwa described the partnership between the NDLEA, the US INL and the US Drug Enforcement Administration as a shared investment in the security of both countries.
He said drug trafficking, illicit arms movement and terrorist financing were interconnected threats that required coordinated responses across national borders.
“Crime has no borders, and neither does the threat. The drugs we seize, the arms we intercept and the terrorist financing we trace are not separate problems,” Marwa said.
He explained that proceeds from drug trafficking could finance arms purchases, sustain armed groups and support terrorist activities, warning that insecurity in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin had implications beyond those regions.
Marwa said the NDLEA had dismantled four clandestine methamphetamine laboratories linked to Mexican cartels in different parts of Nigeria.
He identified the first facility as the largest clandestine methamphetamine laboratory ever discovered in Nigeria, located in a forest in Ijebu East, Ogun State, where three Mexican methamphetamine experts and their Nigerian collaborators were arrested.
According to him, illicit substances valued at more than $360 million were recovered during the operation.
He said that about four weeks later, NDLEA operatives raided another industrial-scale laboratory in Tapa Village, Oyo State, arresting a Mexican methamphetamine expert and four Nigerian collaborators.
Marwa added that similar facilities were subsequently dismantled in Enugu and Ebonyi states.
He said the discoveries pointed to what the agency considered a deliberate attempt by Mexican drug cartels to establish Nigeria as a manufacturing hub for methamphetamine.
“Let me be plain about why this matters to Washington. These cartels are not setting up in our forests to supply Nigerian consumers alone. They want a West African corridor to ship industrial quantities of methamphetamine to Europe, to Asia, and to American cities,” he said.
Marwa added that the pressure being exerted on drug trafficking routes into the United States could be prompting cartels to explore alternative routes.
He described NDLEA operatives, investigators and forensic experts as playing a role in preventing illicit drugs from reaching communities in the United States and elsewhere.
The NDLEA chairman said US assistance had strengthened the agency’s capacity in forensic and chemical analysis, professional training, financial-crime investigations and equipment maintenance.
He disclosed that the agency had, in the past five years, arrested 96,157 drug offenders, including 250 alleged drug barons, seized more than 15.8 million kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs and secured 16,691 convictions against drug traffickers.
Marwa warned that any withdrawal of US INL support could create gaps that criminal networks and terrorist groups might exploit.
He therefore urged Gonzales to convey to Washington the need to sustain the existing assistance to the NDLEA and consider increasing it.
“This great partnership has fueled our offensives that yielded the arrest of 96,157 drug offenders, including 250 drug barons, the seizure of over 15.8 million kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs and conviction of 16,691 drug traffickers, including the kingpins, in the last five years,” he said.
Marwa maintained that traffickers, arms dealers and terrorist groups continued to cooperate across borders, making sustained international collaboration critical to efforts to disrupt their activities.
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