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The United States has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for dismantling four clandestine methamphetamine laboratories linked to Mexican drug cartels in Nigeria, describing the operations as evidence of effective intelligence gathering and international cooperation.
The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) for Africa and the Middle East, Michael Gonzales, gave the commendation on Tuesday during a visit to the NDLEA national headquarters in Abuja.
Gonzales, who was received by the agency’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), said he chose Nigeria as the first country to visit after his appointment four months ago because of its leadership position in Africa and the NDLEA’s operational achievements.
He said he wanted to see firsthand how the agency had recorded significant successes in the fight against illicit drugs.
The US official specifically cited the dismantling of four methamphetamine laboratories this year, describing the operations as evidence of effective intelligence-led investigations, inter-agency coordination, operational efficiency and successful prosecution of drug offenders.
He said the operations demonstrated the importance of sustained collaboration between the United States and Nigeria in tackling the international drug trade.
According to Gonzales, narcotics trafficking has far-reaching consequences for communities and families in the United States, adding that the trade operates across national boundaries and requires coordinated international responses.
He noted that the US government, through the INL, had maintained partnerships with countries worldwide for more than four decades, providing training and equipment to strengthen law enforcement capabilities.
Gonzales also warned that intensified pressure on drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere could redirect trafficking routes towards Africa, Europe and Oceania.
He called for sustained efforts against transnational criminal organisations, including investigations into the financial networks that support their operations.
Responding, Marwa said the partnership between the NDLEA, the INL and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) remained critical to the security of both countries.
He described the drug trade as interconnected with arms trafficking and terrorism, warning that proceeds from illicit drugs could finance weapons purchases and sustain armed groups.
“Crime has no borders, and neither does the threat,” Marwa said, adding that criminal activities across West Africa, the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin had implications for regional and international security.
The NDLEA chairman disclosed that operatives had dismantled what he described as Nigeria’s largest clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in a forest in Ijebu East, Ogun State, where three Mexican methamphetamine experts and their Nigerian collaborators were arrested.
He said illicit substances valued at more than $360 million were recovered during the operation.
According to him, the agency raided another industrial-scale laboratory at Tapa Village in neighbouring Oyo state about four weeks later, arresting a Mexican methamphetamine expert and four Nigerian collaborators.
Marwa added that similar facilities were subsequently dismantled in Enugu and Ebonyi states, with the operations linked to Mexican drug cartels.
He warned that the discoveries suggested attempts by international criminal networks to establish Nigeria as a manufacturing and distribution hub for methamphetamine destined for overseas markets.
“These were not isolated incidents. They show a deliberate attempt to turn Nigeria into a manufacturing hub,” he said.
Marwa argued that dismantling the laboratories would disrupt drug supply chains and prevent illicit substances from reaching communities in Nigeria, the United States and other countries.
He further disclosed that assistance from the INL had strengthened the NDLEA’s forensic and chemical analysis, professional training, investigative capacity, financial crime investigations and equipment maintenance.
According to him, the partnership had contributed to the arrest of 96,157 drug offenders, including 250 drug barons, the seizure of more than 15.8 million kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs and the conviction of 16,691 traffickers over the past five years.
Marwa appealed to the US government to sustain and expand its support for the agency, warning that any reduction in assistance could create opportunities for criminal and terrorist networks.
He urged Gonzales to convey the message to Washington that INL support should be maintained or increased.
The NDLEA chairman stressed that drug traffickers, arms dealers and terrorist groups operated across national boundaries, making continued international cooperation essential to defeating them.
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