Exactly one month ago, Nigeria’s National Drug Control Agency (NDLEA) dismantled a transnational methamphetamine production organization jointly operated by the Nigerian cartel Anochili Innocent and a Mexican organization.
The simultaneous operation, carried out by the Special Operations Unit, resulted in the closure of an industrial-scale clandestine laboratory located in a remote forest in the Ijebu area of Ogun State, as well as the arrest of the organization’s leader, three Mexican technical experts, and six local collaborators.
According to official information, the operation took place on Saturday, May 16, 2026, after months of intelligence gathering.
Special forces entered a remote farm in the Abidagba Forest, where they secured a methamphetamine laboratory and arrested seven cartel members while they were processing the illicit substances.
Among those arrested were three Mexican citizens identified as Nemecto Martínez Félix, 46; Jesús López Valles, 40, and Juan Carlos Torrero, 51, were brought to the country to manufacture the narcotics, according to a statement from Nigerian authorities.
Also arrested at the scene were Nigerians Nwankwo Sunday Christian, 41; Igwe Abuchi Remijus, 42; Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike Joshua, 23; and Egwuonwu Uchenna Victor, 38.
Another tactical team was deployed to the residence of the cartel leader, Anochili Innocent, in Lagos. The suspect was arrested there, and agents seized the international passports and cell phones of the three Mexican citizens.
The specialized chemical and forensic team seized a total of 2,419.48 kilograms of chemical materials, including crystal and liquid methamphetamine. The shipment was valued at $362 million on the international market.
“It’s terrible,” journalist Carmen Aristegui noted while reporting on the revelations made before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee by General Dagvin Anderson. The high-ranking U.S. military official directly linked Mexican criminal organizations to international drug trafficking networks operating from the African continent.
Source: Aristegui Noticias
