US praises NDLEA over four Mexican meth lab busts in Nigeria

The United States has hailed Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for busting four Mexican methamphetamine laboratories in 2026, Peoples Gazette reported. NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement that Michael Gonzales, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs for Africa and the Middle East, made the commendation on Tuesday during a visit to the agency’s Abuja headquarters.

“The four meth lab busts just this year alone is a testament to the deployment of some of the best practices in our tradecraft,” Gonzales said. Agency head Buba Marwa said operatives dismantled what he called the largest clandestine methamphetamine laboratory ever in Ijebu East, Ogun State, arresting three Mexican meth experts and recovering illicit substances worth $360 million.

“The Mexican cartel threat is real, and we are confronting it,” Marwa said. He warned that any withdrawal of US INL support would leave a gap for criminal networks and terrorist groups to exploit.