NDLEA Busts Oyo Forest Meth Lab, Arrests Mexican And Four Nigerians

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says it has dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forest in Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The agency said five suspects were arrested during the June 17 raid, including a 56-year-old Mexican national, Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerians: Maxwell Uche Nevoh, Olatunji Yusuf, Bankole Akeem Owolabi and Ganiu Monsiu.

Vanguard, Daily Post and Punch reported that NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, disclosed the operation through the agency spokesman, Femi Babafemi, at a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.

Marwa said Ochoa was allegedly brought into Nigeria to provide technical expertise for large-scale methamphetamine production, while the Nigerian suspects allegedly handled logistics, cover and local operations.

The NDLEA said forensic officers visited the site on June 18 and found a production line stocked with precursor chemicals, catalysts and equipment used to process methamphetamine.

The agency listed recovered materials including phenyl-2-propanone, phenylacetic acid, caustic soda, sulphuric acid, tartaric acid, ethyl phenylacetate and cartons of aluminium foil.

It also reported the recovery of a reactor pot, two mounted distillation units, fabricated mixers, condensers and vegetable dehydrator machines used for drying crystals.

According to the NDLEA, field tests on samples from the site returned positive results for methamphetamine, while exhibits were evacuated and preserved for court proceedings.

Marwa linked the discovery to an earlier methamphetamine laboratory uncovered in Ogun State about four weeks ago, saying drug syndicates were trying to use forest locations in the South West for synthetic drug production.

The agency said investigations into the suspected syndicate are still ongoing.

Sources: Vanguard, Daily Post, Punch