By James Ogunnaike
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has raised the alarm over attempts by international drug cartels to establish production bases in Nigeria, disclosing that Mexican-linked criminal networks are behind efforts to set up industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratories in forests across Ogun and Oyo states.
The agency also revealed that it had recently dismantled a drug cartel operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor and intercepted consignments of cocaine, methamphetamine and cannabis on the high seas in Akwa Ibom State.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this during an interview on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu.
Babafemi said the agency had uncovered attempts by foreign criminal organisations to penetrate Nigeria’s illicit drug market, adding that NDLEA operatives were taking the battle directly to the cartels rather than waiting for drugs to be trafficked through airports, seaports and highways.
