The Federal Republic of Nigeria has announced the arrest of four Mexicans at a ‘Super-Laboratory’ producing the stimulant drug known as crystal Methamphetamine, or Meth for short.
Meth is a white crystalline drug that people take by inhaling through the nose, smoking or injecting it with a needle. The substance is illegal in Nigeria. It is in the same class as cocaine and other powerful street drugs.
The arrest was made at a warehouse in the southern Delta State, on March 13, 2016. The laboratory is said to have the capacity to produce about 4,000 kilograms of the drug per week. Currently in Nigeria, one kilogram of meth sells around $6,000. In Asia, it is said one kilogram is around $300,000.
Announcing the arrest, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) officials said they arrested four foreigners in a special operation. The agency disclosed that the four had started producing the drug, and were planning a mega production worth billions of dollars.
According to NDLEA officials, intelligence they gathered showed that the laboratory completed a first successful production of the drug in February 2016. The Mexicans were producing a second run when they were busted. Security officials found 1.5 kilograms of meth, and 200 gallons of liquid meth.
NDLEA officials told local media that this was the first industrial-scale production of crystal meth found in West Africa. They also predicted that it could be the largest in the whole of Africa. The first crystal meth laboratories in West Africa were discovered in Nigeria, in 2011. About 10 of small meth laboratories were discovered by the NDLEA. The Agency destroyed them all.
Briefing the press on the issue, NDLEA Spokesman, Mitchell Ofoyeju said it was citizens who invited the Mexicans, and that due to the high price of the drug in Asia, they use clandestine methods to export most to Malaysia and Singapore. He was quoted as saying “The Nigerians invited the Mexicans in to leverage their expertise in these industrial-scales, high-yield production.”
The Mexican Foreign Relations Department confirmed the arrest to the Associated Press News Agency. The Department said its embassy in Nigeria is working with local authorities for more information on those arrested.
Local media outlets report that this arrest comes after an undercover operation by security officials on March 9; led to the arrest of four Nigerians dealing in meth.
This Nigerian Meth Super-Lab Just Got Busted BIG TIME
Posted by TestTube on Friday, March 18, 2016
Separately, NDLEA officials had announced on March 12, the arrest of a suspected drug Baron, Tochukwu Harris Ubah, in connection with the seizure at Lagos port of 576 kilograms of crystal meth and ephedrine. The drugs were bound for Durban, South Africa.
The West African Drug Commission has warned that drug lords in Nigeria are corrupting politicians and law enforcers. It is said the Barons are even running for office themselves.
Recently, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan renewed his campaign for the legalization of all psychoactive substances.
In 2015, Mr Annan launched a campaign in West Africa, persuading governments in the region that the so-called war on drugs has failed, and that legalization will help them earn revenue that would have otherwise been wasted on scarce resources aimed at fighting a war that can never be won.
Mr Annan, a Ghanaian from West Africa served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1997 to December 2006.
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