Wednesday, May 20, 2026 -The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Wednesday, May 20, announced the dismantling of what it described as the largest multi-billion-naira clandestine methamphetamine production factory ever discovered in Nigeria in Ogun State being operated by Anochili Innocent Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO).
The agency said six Nigerians and three Mexican technical
experts linked to the illicit drug production facility were also arrested while
N480 billion worth of methamphetamine was recovered from the clandestine
laboratory located inside a forest in Ijebu Ode area of Ogun State.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen
Mohamed Buba Marwa, revealed this to journalists while giving details of the
major operational success at a media briefing at the Agency’s headquarters in
Abuja on Wednesday.
Marwa identified the Nigerian suspects arrested in
connection to the factory to include the cartel’s mastermind, Anochili
Innocent, Nwankwo Sunday Christian, Igwe Abuchi Remijus, Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike
Joshua, and Egwuonwu Uchenna Victor.
The three Mexican meth experts working for them as advisers
in the factor who were also arrested were identified as Martinez Felix Nemecto,
Jesus López Valles and Torrero Juan Carlos.
According to the NDLEA boss, the well-coordinated operation
that led to the arrest of the suspects and uncovering of the factory was
executed by elite operatives of the Agency’s Special Operations Unit (SOU)
across Ogun and Lagos States within 48 hours last week following months of
painstaking and credible intelligence gathering.City & Local Guides
“Through a
clinical, simultaneous operation executed by the elite operatives of our
Special Operations Unit (SOU), we have successfully dismantled a sophisticated,
transnational methamphetamine production syndicate run jointly by a Nigerian
drug cartel and their Mexican counterparts.
This network
did not just traffic drugs; they were actively manufacturing industrial-scale
quantities of highly lethal illicit substances right on our soil, threatening
the national security and public health of Nigeria.Insecurity Solutions Forum
Marwa said the operation to take out the network began on
Saturday, 16th May 2026, when NDLEA operatives launched a well-coordinated,
simultaneous strikes in both Ogun and Lagos States.
The primary target of the operation was a remote farm
located at Abidagba forest, in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State,
which was being used as a massive, highly dangerous clandestine methamphetamine
laboratory by the Anochili Innocent Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO).
Marwa added that another NDLEA’s tactical team closed in on
the mastermind’s luxury fortress at No. 8 Tafawa Balewa Street, Golf Estate,
Lakowe, Lekki area of Lagos state, the residence of the drug baron, Anochili
Innocent.
“At the farm
in the Ijebu forest, our operatives overran the clandestine laboratory in Ogun
State, securing the perimeter and catching the syndicates completely off-guard.
At this laboratory, we apprehended seven (7) key members of the cartel
processing illicit substances.
“Most
notably, the operation confirms our intelligence regarding the importation of
foreign technical expertise by local cartels. Among those arrested are three
(3) Mexican nationals brought into the country specifically to cook this deadly
substance, alongside four (4) Nigerian collaborators.
“The
suspects arrested in the forest lab are: Nwankwo Sunday Christian, 41; Igwe
Abuchi Remijus, 42; Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike Joshua, 23; and Egwuonwu Uchenna
Victor, 38; as well as the three Mexican meth experts: Martinez Felix Nemecto,
46; Jesus López Valles, 40; and Torrero Juan Carlos, 51'' the NDLEA boss said
Marwa mentioned that the other tactical team cornered and
arrested the cartel’s mastermind, Anochili Innocent, at his No. 8 Tafawa Balewa
Street, Golf Estate, Lakowe, Lekki area of Lagos State.City & Local Guides
“A
meticulous search of his premises led to the recovery of the international
passports and mobile phones of the three arrested Mexican cooks, directly
linking him to the importation and management of the foreign criminals.”
Marwa disclosed that relentless follow-up operations on
Monday 18th May 2026, led NDLEA operatives to another property owned by the
baron at House 70, Close 3, Mayfair Estate, Lakowe, Lekki, Lagos where another
key member of the syndicate, Kingsley Orike Omonughwa, 44, was arrested after
which investigators stormed the residence of another syndicate member, Emeka
Nwobum, whose property served as the cartel’s strategic stash house.
“The arrest
brings to 10 the total number of cartel members, including the baron, the three
Mexican specialists, and six Nigerian collaborators, who are currently in NDLEA
custody,” said the NDLEA boss
The NDLEA boss said he directed the spcialized Chemical and
Forensic Team of NDLEA to the clandestine laboratory to test, weigh, and secure
the chemical components and sheer volume of dangerous precursor chemicals,
industrial solvents, and finished products recovered is staggering.
“The
operation yielded a massive 2,419.48 kilograms (over 2.4 tons) of chemical
materials, including highly toxic, volatile, and crystallized methamphetamine
worth Three Hundred and Sixty-Two Million, Nine Hundred and Twenty-Two Thousand
Dollars ($362,922,000.00) in the international market. This translates to over
Four Hundred and Eighty Billion Naira (N480,000,000,000.00). Imagine this
humongous amount in the control of criminal elements! Also recovered from the
cartel include: a Toyota Tacoma vehicle used for operations at the clandestine
meth laboratory, and a Toyota Highlander seized from the kingpin’s residence.
To put this
in perspective, the 2,419.48 kilograms of finished and liquid methamphetamine
seized represents millions of street doses that would have flooded our local
communities and international markets, causing untold destruction, psychosis,
and violence.”he said
The NDLEA boss said the dismantling of the Anochili Innocent
DTO, coming directly on the heels of the Simon Amadi cartel takedown, sends an
unequivocal, resounding message to drug barons both locally and internationally
that Nigeria is a hostile territory for their business, warning that the Agency
will continue to hunt them down wherever they are located.
“We are
fully aware of the shifting tactics of these cartels, including the disturbing
trend of hiring South American cartel specialists to set up production
factories in our rural communities. Let it be known that no matter how deep
into the bush you hide, no matter how secure your gated estate is, the NDLEA
will hunt you down, disrupt your networks, and seize your ill-gotten wealth”
Marwa warned
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