The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered and dismantled a highly fortified, industrial-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratory hidden deep within a forest in Oyo State, arresting a Mexican drug specialist and four Nigerian collaborators.
​The successful operation, executed by tactical operatives on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, took place in Tapa Village, located within the Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the state.
​Briefing journalists at the NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) represented by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi disclosed that the facility was run by a highly organized Nigerian-Mexican drug cartel.
​”This was not a rudimentary setup; it was a sophisticated, highly organized transnational syndicate,” Marwa stated. “The arrest of a foreign cartel specialist on Nigerian soil underscores the transnational nature of this threat, but more importantly, it demonstrates our agency’s world-class intelligence capability to track, intercept, and neutralize them.”
​The five key suspects arrested on-site during the raid includes a Mexican, Jose Villa, methamphetamine expert recruited and brought into Nigeria specifically to provide technical expertise for large-scale drug synthesis.
With Nigerian collaborators Maxwell Uche Nevoh, Bankole Akeem Owolabi, Ganiu Monsiu and Olatunji Yusuf, providing logistics and cover.
​Following the initial raid, a specialized team from the NDLEA’s Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring moved into the site on June 18 for a rigorous forensic examination.
​Investigators uncovered a massive, factory-level production line. The laboratory was fully stocked with a dangerous array of highly controlled precursor chemicals and industrial production equipment valued at billions of naira.
​The NDLEA noted that this dramatic bust comes barely four weeks after the agency dismantled a similarly massive methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forest in Ijebu East, Ogun State.
​According to law enforcement officials, these back-to-back discoveries highlight a desperate attempt by international drug barons to transform Nigeria’s South-West axis into a manufacturing hub for synthetic drugs.
Gen. Marwa commended the gallantry, clinical professionalism, and dedication of the tactical officers involved in the operation, reiterating that the agency will continue to choke the finances and dismantle the infrastructure of drug cartels operating within the country.
