Drugs Used to Pass Through Nigeria. Now They’re Being Made Here

On Wednesday, May 20, 2026, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced that it had dismantled what it described as a large methamphetamine (Meth) laboratory in Abidagba forest in Ijebu East, Ogun State.

The agency arrested ten people, including three Mexican nationals and a Nigerian who the agency identified as the alleged leader of the operation.

NDLEA said the laboratory had produced or was processing 2,419.48kg of methamphetamine, which it valued at about $362.9 million, equivalent to over ₦480 billion on the international market.

On June 17, barely four weeks after the Abidagba forest arrest, the agency found another laboratory in a forest in Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State. NDLEA said the operation uncovered a sophisticated, industrial-scale facility containing precursor chemicals, industrial catalysts and heavy-duty equipment.

Five people were arrested, including a 56-year-old Mexican national, Jose Villa Ochoa, whom the agency said had been brought into Nigeria to provide technical expertise for large-scale methamphetamine production.

These two discoveries are difficult to dismiss as isolated backyard operations. So we took a deep dive, and it appears the picture is becoming increasingly complicated.

Arrested suspects in Oyo. Photo: Arise News

**How did we get here? **

For decades, Nigeria’s place in the global drug trade has largely been understood through trafficking. Cocaine, heroin, cannabis, methamphetamine and pharmaceutical opioids have moved through the country, with some destined for Nigerian consumers and others continuing to markets across Africa, Europe and Asia. Nigeria’s large population, extensive road network, busy ports and airports, and its position in West Africa have made it an attractive location for international trafficking networks.

Though Nigeria is still a transit point and a major market for illicit drugs, the country has also been producing some of them for years. What has changed recently is the scale of some of the operations being uncovered, especially the discovery of industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratories in Ogun and Oyo states within weeks of each other.

Nigeria has been producing drugs for years

It would be wrong to suggest that Nigerian drug production started with the two laboratories found this year. The country has had secret drug laboratories for more than a decade, particularly facilities producing methamphetamine.

Between January 2015 and December 2016, Nigeria’s National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP) identified five methamphetamine laboratories in Nigeria and noted that three of them had used ephedrine-based production methods. From June 2011 to March 2016, NAFDAC reported 11 laboratories altogether. In May 2016, the agency eventually announced that Nigeria was becoming part of the West African methamphetamine production chain, with locally produced meth being trafficked to markets outside the region.

One of the most notable cases came in March 2016, when Nigerian authorities uncovered what was described as a “super laboratory” in Asaba, Delta State. The laboratory was reportedly capable of producing between 3,000kg and 4,000kg of methamphetamine per production cycle and was operated with the involvement of Mexican nationals. The discovery showed that Nigerian drug networks were capable of moving beyond simply importing and distributing finished products.

How is this happening?

There is a practical reason why local production changes the drug trade. When a criminal network imports a finished drug, it has to move that drug across an international border before it can reach its market. That creates several points where customs officers, police, anti-narcotics agencies and international partners can intercept it. A network that produces the drug inside the country removes one part of that journey.

It still needs chemicals, equipment, expertise and distribution networks, but the finished product does not have to cross Nigeria’s border before reaching Nigerian buyers or being moved onwards. That makes the discovery of laboratories important because it exposes an entire supply chain rather than a single consignment.

The Ogun case shows how sophisticated that supply chain can become. NDLEA’s investigation noted that precursor chemicals were transported from Lagos to the laboratory in Mowe using vehicles linked to members of the syndicate.

This shows that local production does not mean the drug trade has become entirely Nigerian. Criminal networks can combine local knowledge, local property and transportation with expertise and connections from outside the country.

The Oyo operation had a similar pattern. NDLEA said the Mexican suspect arrested there had been brought into Nigeria specifically to provide technical knowledge for large-scale methamphetamine production, while the four Nigerians arrested with him allegedly provided logistical support and handled local operations.

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**Strange things in strange places **

NDLEA seizures regularly involve drugs concealed in things that would not immediately attract attention. In March, 2026, officers intercepted drugs hidden inside water-purifier machines shipped from Europe. In another case in July 2026, large quantities of tramadol and other controlled medicines were concealed in a truck carrying building materials from Togo. The agency has also reported drugs hidden in vehicle compartments, parcels, and other commercial cargo.

The creativity is not limited to objects. Drug networks also exploit ordinary transportation systems and, in some cases, people who may not even know what they are carrying.

Where did the chemicals come from?

Producing synthetic drugs at this scale requires more than people who know how to mix chemicals. It requires access to precursor chemicals, industrial equipment, storage facilities, transportation, and locations where the operation can remain hidden. But where do these chemicals come from?

The NDLEA monitors controlled chemicals as part of its anti-drug operations. Its Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring is responsible for activities including the identification and dismantling of clandestine laboratories and the monitoring of controlled chemicals that could be diverted for illicit production.

The recent laboratories show why that work matters, or at least, why it should matter. The Oyo facility contained large drums and containers of precursor chemicals, industrial catalysts, and equipment used in chemical processing.

The Ogun investigation also uncovered a sizable stock of precursor chemicals. According to the charges filed against the suspects, investigators recovered hundreds of kilograms of toluene and hydrochloric acid, along with acetone, P2P and phenylacetic acid.

For now, no one can explain how the chemicals got into the hands of the manufacturers.

Should we be worried?

The Ogun laboratory was found in Ijebu East. The Oyo laboratory was discovered in Ibarapa North. Both are in the South-West, and both facilities were hidden in forested areas where large-scale operations could remain out of sight.

On June 3, 2026, the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) described the Ogun discovery as worrying, noting that the country is moving from being primarily a transit and consumer market towards becoming an important producer and exporter of synthetic drugs. ISS also highlighted the fact that the latest laboratory was located in a remote forest rather than the urban environments where some previous laboratories had been discovered.

It does not mean every forest community in the country is harbouring a drug laboratory. What it does point to is that law-enforcement agencies now have to look beyond the traditional locations associated with drug trafficking.

What Nigerians look forward to

For the NDLEA, that means dismantling a laboratory is only part of the job. The agency also has to trace where the chemicals came from, who financed the operation, who provided the technical expertise, how the finished product would have been distributed, and whether the network has other facilities operating elsewhere.

For Nigeria, it means the drug story is no longer only about what enters through the ports or what officers find hidden inside a bus. Some of the drugs being moved around the country may have started their journey in a Nigerian forest, produced by a network of experts who have learned how to manufacture them here.

Everything so far suggests law-enforcement agencies will have to keep watch on potential drug-producing forests closely.

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