Mexican Cartels Invade Ogun, Oyo Forests With Industrial Meth Labs — NDLEA Raises Alarm

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has raised the alarm over attempts by international drug cartels, particularly Mexican-linked criminal networks, to establish industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratories in forests across Ogun and Oyo states.

The agency disclosed that one meth lab uncovered in Ogun State had the potential to produce drugs worth almost N500 billion, while a separate operation in Ebonyi State also led to arrests.

A New Front in the War on Drugs

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has raised the alarm over attempts by international drug cartels to establish industrial drug production bases inside forests in Ogun and Oyo states.

The agency disclosed that Mexican-linked criminal networks are collaborating with Nigerian syndicates to set up large-scale methamphetamine laboratories hidden deep inside forests.

One such laboratory uncovered in Ogun State had the potential to produce drugs worth almost N500 billion.

The Director of Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, made this known on Thursday, September 3, 2026, during an interview on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese-Ijebu.

A Global Phenomenon, A Local Threat

Babafemi said the agency has uncovered several attempts by foreign criminal elements to penetrate Nigeria’s illicit drug market, forcing operatives to take the battle directly to their forest hideouts.

“We’ve seen recently the collaboration between the Nigerian-Mexican cartels trying to have methamphetamine laboratories in the forests of Ogun and Oyo states, and just a few days ago, we had one again in Ebonyi State, and those behind that have been rounded up,” Babafemi said.

According to him, the development shows how global and networked drug trafficking has become, with foreign cartels desperately seeking footholds in Nigeria despite tightened security.

Cartels Forced to Change Tactics

Babafemi disclosed that the cartels are now avoiding airports and seaports due to increased NDLEA surveillance and are instead moving drugs through neighbouring countries into Nigeria.

“These people already know that it’s difficult for them to come into Nigeria through airports or seaports, so we’ve also seen the trend that they would take some of these illicit substances to some neighbouring countries from where they want to come into Nigeria,” he said.

He cited the recent dismantling of a cartel operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor, which he said had for years fuelled opioid abuse among Nigerian youths.

Beyond Seizures: Dismantling Financial Networks

The NDLEA spokesman said the agency’s strategy had shifted beyond drug seizures and arrests to intelligence gathering, dismantling trafficking networks and attacking their financial structures.

“We’re mopping up all of those floods of illicit substances across our communities and our streets, but beyond that, we’re taking this to them, right wherever they may be trying to do this,” Babafemi said.

“We are dismantling all their structures and disabling their capacity and capability, whether in terms of their financial backbone, or their instrumentalities,” he added.

New Fronts: Social Media and the Dark Web

Babafemi also disclosed that the NDLEA is expanding its capacity to track drug trafficking activities in cyberspace, including on social media platforms and the dark web.

The agency is also monitoring cryptocurrency networks used by drug traffickers.

He warned against social media influencers who glamorise illicit drug use, saying the agency was working with the Actors Guild of Nigeria and the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria to discourage the promotion of narcotics.

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A Growing Threat

The NDLEA’s concerns now extend beyond cannabis, cocaine and tramadol to synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and Captagon.

Babafemi described drug cartels as “merchants of death” , warning that their activities posed a serious threat to society.

According to him, the methamphetamine laboratory discovered in an Ogun forest had the capacity to produce drugs worth almost half a trillion naira.

The agency also disclosed that its Marine Command recently intercepted consignments of cocaine, methamphetamine and cannabis on the high seas in Akwa Ibom State, allegedly destined for Cameroon.

A Lesson for Nigerian Youths

This is not just a story about drug cartels. It is a story about choices. The same cartels that set up these labs are the ones recruiting young Nigerians to work in them, to distribute their products, and to fuel the addiction that destroys communities.

The same politicians and kingpins who profit from this trade will never allow their own children to be involved in such dangerous activities.

Their children are safely tucked away in universities abroad or in comfortable homes. It is the children of the poor who are used as cannon fodder in this deadly trade.

Choose a legitimate path. Refuse to be used as a tool for someone else’s ambition.

And remember: the cartels are merchants of death, do not let them profit from yours.