Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have busted methamphetamine laboratories in Victoria Garden City (VGC) Estate of Lekki, Lagos and Nise community in Anambra State and arrested those behind the Mkpuru Mmiri cartel.
The Chairman and Managing Director of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig-Mohammed Buba Marwa (Rtd), who disclosed this on Tuesday said, the arrested suspects would be charged to court on the completion of the investigation.
Marwa told a press conference in Abuja that, the successes were recorded on Saturday after months of painstaking intelligence gathering, diligent tracking and coordinated offensive action.
Following reports on the outbreak of crystal methamphetamine abuse in the last quarter of 2021 in the South Eastern part of the country, he said many communities in the area cried for help because of the devastating effects the distribution and abuse of the dangerous stimulant drug were having on their youths and others.
He said, the Lekki laboratory owned by a baron, Chris Emeka Nzewi and the second one in Nise Community of Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State, owned by Paul Ozoemenam were arrested alongside Sunday Ukah from Aba, Abia State, who is the cook or chemist that produced the drugs for them.
According to the NDLEA boss, the laboratory in Lagos was set up inside the Boys’ Quarter building of a four-bedroom duplex, from where a total of 258.74 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and various precursor chemicals used for the production of the toxic drug were recovered.
The complete paraphernalia Laboratory equipment such as gas cylinders, giant gas burners, industrial face masks, industrial gloves, tubes and flat-bottomed conical flasks, among others were also found.
The Agency, he noted deemed it fit to brief the public about the recent busts to raise people’s awareness of the danger that meth production constitutes to public health and to also let the public know the modus operandi of the barons involved in the unwholesome activity.