NDLEA dismantles Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine cartel in Enugu
Abdullateef Fowewe
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a Nigerian-Mexican drug cartel operating a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Eziama community, Obeagu, Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The agency also arrested two alleged kingpins linked to the operation: 45-year-old Chukwu Obumneme Christopher, alias Brown, and 60-year-old Chukwu Georginus Monday, alias George.
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, describing the operation as “a decisive blow against transnational organised crime.”
According to him, the suspects allegedly operated the laboratory in partnership with Rodriguez Villanueva, a suspected Mexican cartel member based in Mexico City, following several months of intelligence gathering and surveillance by the agency.
The two suspects were arraigned before Justice Mabel Taiye Segun-Bello of the Federal High Court, Enugu Judicial Division, on a five-count charge.
The charges include conspiracy, organising, managing and financing a drug trafficking organisation, as well as unlawful possession of precursor chemicals used in methamphetamine production.
The court has fixed October 21, 2026, for trial after the NDLEA applied for an accelerated hearing.
Also listed in the charge, but currently at large, are Uchenna, alias Uche; Celestine Ikemefuna Iwuchukwu; and Villanueva, described by the agency as a notorious member of a Mexican drug cartel.
The NDLEA said its Special Operations Unit tracked Brown’s movements across Lagos, Enugu and Anambra states between December 1 and 4, 2025, before locating the clandestine laboratory in Obeagu.
The facility was equipped with improvised reactors and distillation apparatus capable of producing methamphetamine in commercial quantities. Babafemi said it resembled similar laboratories recently dismantled in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.
A search of the premises reportedly led to the recovery of:
• 690 litres of methylamine.
• 1,000 litres of isopropyl alcohol.
• 300 litres of hydrochloric acid.
• 290 litres each of toluene and acetone.
• 400 litres of liquid sodium hydroxide.
• 125 kilograms of N-phenylacetamide.
• 414 kilograms of lead acetate.
• 769.6 kilograms of tartaric acid.
The agency said the recovered substances were consistent with a high-potency, P2P-based methamphetamine manufacturing operation.
A search of George’s family residence also yielded eight large fuel tanks, four commercial gas burners, four dehydrators and 11 kilograms of ephedrine.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), pledged that the agency would continue its efforts to arrest all suspects linked to the cartel.
Marwa commended the officers involved in the operation, describing the laboratory seizure as proof that Nigeria “will not be allowed to become a haven for transnational drug cartels.”
He added that the agency’s intelligence-led operations and international partnerships would continue to target drug networks and prevent criminals—“whether local or foreign” from exploiting Nigeria for illicit drug production and trafficking.
