US Commends NDLEA Over Busts of Mexican Meth Labs, Marwa Seeks Continued Support

The United States has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for dismantling four clandestine methamphetamine laboratories allegedly linked to Mexican drug cartels in Nigeria, describing the operations as evidence of effective intelligence gathering, inter-agency collaboration and international law enforcement cooperation.

The commendation came from the United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) for Africa and the Middle East, Michael Gonzales, during a visit to the NDLEA national headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

Gonzales, who assumed office four months ago, said Nigeria was his first choice for an official visit because of its position as a major African economy and the operational successes recorded by the NDLEA under its Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd).

He said he was particularly interested in understanding the agency’s operations and the factors behind its achievements in combating drug trafficking and organised crime.

“When I was thinking where does it make the most sense to visit first, Nigeria was a clear answer. Because as a leader, as an economic powerhouse on the continent, but also particularly NDLEA for the leadership and the impressive wins that you and your team and your inter-agency counterparts have delivered time and again,” he said.

Gonzales added that the strong partnership between the INL and the NDLEA had further strengthened his decision to visit Nigeria and observe the agency’s operations first-hand.

He identified the four methamphetamine laboratory busts recorded by the NDLEA in 2026 as evidence of the agency’s adoption of effective law enforcement practices, including intelligence-led investigations, cross-border cooperation, operational coordination and diligent prosecution of suspects.

According to him, successful counter-narcotics operations require more than the physical seizure of illicit substances, as intelligence gathering, investigations, interrogations and prosecution are equally important in dismantling drug trafficking networks.

Gonzales said narcotics trafficking had become a major international security concern because of its direct consequences for communities and families, particularly in the United States.

He noted that the illicit drug trade operated across national boundaries, making international cooperation essential to identifying and disrupting the networks responsible for production, transportation and distribution.

“The reality of the narcotics trade is one that is international. It knows no boundaries, very few constraints,” he said, adding that the work of the INL and the NDLEA benefited both Nigerians and Americans.

The US official said Washington’s more than four decades of partnership with countries around the world had involved technical assistance, professional training and equipment donations to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies.

He also warned that increased pressure on drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere could redirect trafficking routes towards Africa, with criminal organisations potentially using the continent as a transit point for drugs destined for Europe, Asia and Oceania.

According to him, the changing nature of the drug trade, particularly the growing use of synthetic substances that can be difficult to detect and pose serious health risks, makes sustained international cooperation increasingly important.

He called for a coordinated approach that targets transnational criminal organisations as interconnected networks, including the financial flows that sustain their activities.

Responding, Marwa said the partnership between the NDLEA, the INL and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration had strengthened Nigeria’s capacity to combat drug trafficking and other forms of organised crime.

He described the cooperation as a shared investment in the security of both countries, warning that criminal networks were increasingly exploiting the connections between drug trafficking, arms smuggling and terrorism financing.

“Crime has no borders, and neither does the threat. The drugs we seize, the arms we intercept and the terrorist financing we trace are not separate problems. When we seize narcotics and illicit weapons in the same operations and along the same routes, we are looking at the convergence of crime,” he said.

Marwa explained that proceeds from drug trafficking could be used to procure weapons, sustain armed groups and finance terrorist activities, creating a security challenge that extended beyond Nigeria’s borders.

He added that developments in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin could have wider regional implications, just as drugs trafficked through West Africa could eventually reach markets outside the continent.

The NDLEA chairman said the agency had recorded significant successes against suspected Mexican cartel-linked methamphetamine operations in different parts of Nigeria in recent months.

He disclosed that operatives dismantled what he described as the largest clandestine methamphetamine laboratory ever discovered in Nigeria, located in a forest in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.

According to him, the operation led to the arrest of three Mexican methamphetamine experts and their Nigerian collaborators, while illicit substances valued at more than $360 million were recovered.

He said that barely four weeks later, the agency raided another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, neighbouring Oyo State, where a Mexican national allegedly brought in to oversee large-scale production was arrested alongside four Nigerian collaborators.

Marwa added that two similar facilities were subsequently dismantled in Enugu and Ebonyi states in the South-East, with the operations also linked by the agency to Mexican drug cartels.

He said the discoveries indicated an alleged attempt by international drug trafficking organisations to establish Nigeria as a manufacturing base for synthetic drugs.

According to Marwa, the suspected cartel operators were not merely targeting the Nigerian market but were seeking to use West Africa as a corridor for transporting methamphetamine to international destinations.

He argued that dismantling the laboratories would help disrupt the supply chain before the drugs reached their intended markets, including cities in the United States.

“Every meth-producing laboratory that we shut down is a supply line that never reaches an American street, and every cartel operative we arrest is one fewer in the pipeline,” he said.

Marwa described the work of the NDLEA’s forensic chemists, investigators and tactical teams as an important component of international efforts to prevent illicit drugs from reaching communities abroad.

He also highlighted the contribution of US assistance to the agency’s operational capabilities, particularly in forensic and chemical analysis, professional training, financial crime investigations and equipment maintenance.

According to him, the support had contributed to the NDLEA’s enforcement record over the past five years.

Marwa said the agency had arrested 96,157 drug offenders, including 250 drug barons, seized more than 15.8 million kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs and secured 16,691 convictions against drug traffickers, including major operators in the illicit trade.

He maintained that the figures demonstrated the importance of sustained investment in law enforcement capacity and international partnerships in tackling drug trafficking.

However, the NDLEA chairman warned that any reduction or withdrawal of support from the INL could create operational gaps that criminal networks and terrorist groups might exploit.

He therefore appealed to Gonzales to convey to the US government the need to maintain, or increase, its assistance to Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency.

“INL support, as is, should be maintained if not increased,” Marwa said.

He argued that drug traffickers, arms dealers and terrorist groups continued to collaborate across national boundaries, making it necessary for governments and their security agencies to maintain equally strong cooperation.

Marwa said Nigeria’s efforts against drug trafficking were closely connected to wider international security objectives, adding that continued cooperation with the United States would help both countries respond to the evolving threat posed by transnational criminal organisations.