NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.).

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), has urged traditional rulers and community leaders to thoroughly vet individuals seeking to acquire farmlands in rural communities to prevent drug cartels from establishing clandestine laboratories.

Marwa said the appeal became necessary following the recent discovery of industrial-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratories allegedly operated by a Nigerian-Mexican drug cartel in the forests of Ogun and Oyo states.

A statement issued on Saturday by the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said Marwa made the call at the 10th Akinale Day celebration and the first coronation anniversary of the Towulade of Owu Akinale, Oba Oluseyi Adediran.

He urged royal fathers and community leaders, particularly in the South-West, to pay close attention to the activities of strangers within their communities and forests.