US warns Mexican cartels trying to turn Nigeria into meth manufacturing hub

Ogun, Oyo, Enugu and Ebonyi states laboratories uncovered

The United States has warned that Mexican drug cartels are increasingly targeting Nigeria as a manufacturing base and trafficking route for synthetic drugs.

According to The PUNCH, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Michael Gonzales raised the alarm on Tuesday during a visit to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency headquarters in Abuja.

Gonzales praised the agency for dismantling four methamphetamine laboratories this year, warning that pressure on cartels in the Western Hemisphere was pushing traffickers towards alternative routes through Africa.

NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa said the laboratories uncovered in Ogun, Oyo, Enugu and Ebonyi states demonstrated an organised attempt to establish Nigeria as a drug production hub.

“The Mexican cartel threat is real, and we are confronting it,” Marwa said.

He disclosed that three Mexican specialists and Nigerian collaborators were arrested during the Ogun operation, where substances valued at over $360 million were recovered.

Marwa said traffickers intended to move methamphetamine through West Africa to Europe, Asia and the United States.

He added that the agency had arrested 96,157 drug offenders, seized over 15.8 million kilogrammes of illicit drugs and secured 16,691 convictions within five years.

Marwa urged Washington to sustain assistance with investigations, training and equipment to combat international criminal networks