Nigerian drug agents arrested four Mexicans who were allegedly helping build a "super-lab" capable of producing billions of dollars' worth of methamphetamine, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said Monday.
Spokesman Mitchell Ofoyeju said it was the first industrial-scale production of crystal meth found in West Africa, and possibly on the continent.
"The Nigerians invited the Mexicans in to leverage their expertise in these industrial-scale, high-yield productions," said Ofoyeju.
The laboratory, which is located in Asaba, Delta State, was detected by the Special Enforcement Team (SET) of the agency, the NDLEA Chairman, Mr. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah, said at a press conference at the agency’s headquarters in the commercial city of Lagos.
“This is the first super laboratory discovered in the country, capable of making the drug in industrial quantities” Mr. Abdallah said.
“This laboratory is similar to the ones found in Mexico in terms of size and has a capacity of between 3,000 kg and 4,000 kg of methamphetamine per production cycle,” he added. Methamphetamine added Ofoyeju, sold six thousand dollars a kilogram in Nigeria, but in Asian markets (preferred by Nigerian drug traffickers) the price rises to $ 300,000 per kilogram. Most goes to Singapore and Malaysia.
The NDLEA boss said “another significant feature of this laboratory is that the production process is more technical and sophisticated because it uses the synthesis method of methamphetamine production”.
The lab completed a first successful production in February and the agents raided it as the Mexicans were producing a second run, Ofoyeju said. Only 3.3 pounds of meth was recovered with 200 gallons of liquid methamphetamine.
Nigerian methamphetamine is now competing with others in Asian and South African markets. The super laboratory does not need ephedrine because it uses the synthesis method," Ofoyeju was cited as saying in the local newsite Naija.com. "Drug cartels are now shifting from a simple method of methamphetamine production to a more complex process
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said its embassy in Nigeria was working with local authorities to confirm the suspects' identities and nationalities and determine their legal status.
The raid came after an undercover operation that also netted the arrests of four Nigerians last Wednesday. The eight arrests happened in simultaneous raids in two southern towns and the commercial capital, Lagos.
The anti-drug agency said the cartel first brought two Mexican methamphetamine experts, Cervantos Madrid Jose Bruno and Rivas Ruiz Pastiano to Nigeria but because the size of the laboratory and the volume of work enormous, two other Mexicans, Castillo Barraza Cristobal and Partida Gonzalez Pedro were brought in.
Separately, Nigeria's drug enforcement agency announced the weekend arrest of suspected drug baron Tochukwu Harris Ubah in connection with the seizure at Lagos port of 1,270 pounds of crystal meth and ephedrine — used in small-scale production. It was bound for Durban, South Africa.
The first crystal meth labs in West Africa were discovered in Nigeria in 2011, and 10, smaller than industrial scale, have since been dismantled. The West African Drug Commission has warned that drug lords are corrupting politicians and law enforcers, and even running for office themselves.
