A visiting United States official has praised Nigeria’s reported dismantling of four methamphetamine laboratories this year, while NDLEA chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa urged Washington to sustain its anti-drug assistance.
Michael Gonzales, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs covering Africa and the Middle East, met Marwa and the agency’s management at NDLEA headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, October 20.
According to an NDLEA statement signed by its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, Gonzales cited the four laboratory busts as examples of intelligence-led investigations and cooperation across agencies and borders.
Marwa used the meeting to allege that Mexican cartels were trying to establish Nigeria as a methamphetamine manufacturing base and use West Africa to reach overseas markets.
He said the agency had dismantled laboratories in Ogun, Oyo, Enugu and Ebonyi states. In his account, an operation in a forest in Ijebu East, Ogun State, was followed barely four weeks later by a raid at Tapa Village in Oyo State, with the Enugu and Ebonyi operations coming afterwards.
“These were not isolated incidents. They show a deliberate attempt to turn Nigeria into a manufacturing hub,” Marwa said.
Gonzales said pressure on cartels in the Western Hemisphere was like “squeezing a balloon”, pushing trafficking flows towards Africa and onward to Europe and Oceania, according to the statement. He also called for action against criminal networks and the financial flows supporting them.
Marwa argued that Nigeria’s drug-enforcement work also served US security interests. He said American assistance had strengthened the agency’s forensic and chemical analysis, investigations, professional training and equipment maintenance.
He asked Gonzales to convey his appeal for US support to be maintained or increased, warning that a withdrawal could leave gaps for criminal networks and terrorist groups to exploit.
Sources: NDLEA, PUNCH, Daily Trust
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