US commends NDLEA over four Meth Lab busts, marwa seeks more support

By Adebola Muili

The United States has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over the dismantling of four clandestine methamphetamine laboratories linked to Mexican drug cartels in Nigeria, as the agency’s chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), called for sustained US support to strengthen the fight against international drug trafficking.

The United States 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, October 20, 2026, during a visit to the NDLEA national headquarters in Abuja.

Gonzales, who assumed office four months ago, said he chose Nigeria as his first destination because of its strategic importance in Africa and the operational successes recorded by the NDLEA.

He said the agency’s achievements demonstrated the effectiveness of intelligence-led investigations, inter-agency cooperation, cross-border coordination and diligent prosecution of drug-related offences.

According to him, the four methamphetamine laboratory busts recorded this year reflected the quality of the agency’s operations and the value of its partnership with the United States.

Gonzales noted that narcotics trafficking had become a major international security concern, with its consequences extending beyond national borders to affect communities and families across the world.

He added that the changing nature of the drug trade, particularly the growing threat posed by synthetic substances, required sustained international cooperation to dismantle trafficking networks and disrupt their financial operations.

The US official also explained that intensified pressure on cartels in the Western Hemisphere could redirect trafficking routes towards Africa, Europe and other regions, making cooperation with countries such as Nigeria increasingly important.

Responding, Marwa disclosed that NDLEA operatives had dismantled four methamphetamine laboratories in Nigeria, which he said were linked to Mexican drug cartels seeking to establish the country as a production hub.

He said the agency uncovered the largest clandestine methamphetamine laboratory ever discovered in Nigeria in a forest in Ijebu East, Ogun State, where three Mexican methamphetamine experts and their Nigerian collaborators were arrested.

According to him, illicit substances worth more than $360 million were recovered during the operation.

Marwa added that another industrial-scale laboratory was subsequently raided at Tapa Village in neighbouring Oyo State, leading to the arrest of a Mexican methamphetamine expert and four Nigerian collaborators.

He said similar facilities had also been dismantled in Enugu and Ebonyi states, describing the discoveries as evidence of an alleged attempt by international criminal networks to establish large-scale drug production facilities in Nigeria.

The NDLEA chairman warned that the cartels were allegedly seeking to use West Africa as a transit corridor for transporting industrial quantities of methamphetamine to Europe, Asia and the United States.

He maintained that dismantling the laboratories would help disrupt the supply of illicit drugs to international markets, including American communities.

Marwa also drew attention to the links between drug trafficking, illegal arms dealing and terrorism, arguing that proceeds from the illicit drug trade could finance weapons purchases and sustain armed groups.

“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,” he said.

He added that criminal activities in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin could have consequences beyond those regions, while trafficking routes through West Africa could facilitate wider criminal operations.

Marwa attributed part of the NDLEA’s operational capacity to assistance from the US government through the INL and the Drug Enforcement Administration, particularly in forensic and chemical analysis, professional training, financial investigations and equipment maintenance.

He disclosed that the agency had arrested 96,157 drug offenders, including 250 drug barons, seized more than 15.8 million kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs and secured the conviction of 16,691 traffickers in the last five years.

The NDLEA chairman appealed to Gonzales to convey to Washington the need to sustain or increase assistance to the agency, warning that any withdrawal of support could create gaps that criminal networks and terrorist groups might exploit.

“This great partnership has fuelled our offensives,” Marwa said, stressing that governments confronting transnational criminal organisations must maintain the same level of cooperation as the networks they seek to dismantle.