The United States has commended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for dismantling four methamphetamine laboratories allegedly linked to Mexican drug cartels in Nigeria in 2026, describing the operations as a significant contribution to international efforts to combat drug trafficking.
The US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) for Africa and the Middle East, Michael Gonzales, gave the commendation during a visit to the NDLEA headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
Gonzales, who was received by the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (rtd), alongside members of the agency’s management team, said he chose Nigeria as his first destination because of its strategic importance in Africa and the agency’s operational achievements.
He said he wanted to see “firsthand where the magic happens,” noting that the NDLEA’s record demonstrated the value of cooperation between Nigeria and the United States.
Gonzales described the seizure of four methamphetamine laboratories as “evidence of effective intelligence gathering, inter-agency coordination and international collaboration.”
He also stressed the importance of investigations, interrogations, operational planning and prosecutions in dismantling drug trafficking networks.
“The reality of the narcotics trade is one that is international. It knows no boundaries, very few constraints,” he said, stressing that cooperation between the US INL and the NDLEA served the interests of citizens in both countries.
He noted that the United States had maintained international partnerships for more than 40 years, providing Nigeria with training and equipment to strengthen its capacity to fight drug trafficking.
Gonzales also warned that increased pressure on drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere could push traffickers towards alternative routes through Africa, with illicit drugs subsequently transported to Europe and Oceania.
He further highlighted the growing shift from plant-based narcotics to synthetic drugs, which can be difficult to detect and potentially more dangerous.
Gonzales called for sustained efforts to dismantle transnational criminal organisations and disrupt the financial networks supporting their activities.
In his remarks, Marwa said “the NDLEA had dismantled four methamphetamine laboratories allegedly linked to Mexican cartels in Ogun, Oyo, Enugu and Ebonyi states.”
He identified a facility hidden in a forest in Ijebu East, Ogun State, as the largest clandestine methamphetamine laboratory ever discovered in Nigeria, according to the agency.
“NDLEA operatives arrested three Mexican methamphetamine experts and their Nigerian collaborators during the operation, recovering illicit substances valued at more than $360 million,” Marwa said.
About four weeks later, the agency raided another industrial-scale laboratory in Tapa Village, Oyo State, arresting a Mexican methamphetamine expert and four Nigerian collaborators.
Marwa said similar facilities were subsequently dismantled in Enugu and Ebonyi states, describing the discoveries as evidence of an alleged attempt by Mexican cartels to establish Nigeria as a major methamphetamine production hub.
“These were not isolated incidents. They show a deliberate attempt to turn Nigeria into a manufacturing hub,” he said.
According to the NDLEA Chairman, the laboratories could have supported international trafficking networks targeting markets in Europe, Asia and the United States.
He linked the alleged expansion of cartel operations in Nigeria to increased pressure on trafficking routes into the US under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“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,” Marwa said.
He described the NDLEA’s forensic scientists, investigators and tactical teams as playing a critical role in preventing illicit drugs from reaching international markets.
Marwa also warned that drug trafficking, arms smuggling and terrorism financing increasingly overlap, creating security threats that extend beyond national borders.
“Crime has no borders, and neither does the threat,” he said.
Marwa said cooperation among the NDLEA, the US INL and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was therefore essential to strengthening the security of both countries.
He explained that proceeds from drug trafficking could finance weapons purchases, sustain armed groups and support terrorist activities.
The NDLEA boss explained that insecurity in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin had implications beyond the affected regions, while trafficking routes across West Africa connected criminal networks operating in different countries.
He credited US assistance with improving the agency’s capacity in forensic and chemical analysis, professional training, financial crime investigations and equipment maintenance.
According to him, the partnership had contributed to the NDLEA’s operational achievements over the past five years.
“This great partnership has fueled our offensives that yielded the arrest of 96,157 drug offenders, including 250 drug barons, the seizure of over 15.8 million kilograms of assorted illicit drugs and conviction of 16,691 drug traffickers, including the kingpins, in the last five years,” Marwa.said.
He warned that a withdrawal of US assistance could create gaps that drug trafficking networks and terrorist groups might exploit.
Marwa urged Gonzales to convey to the US government a request to sustain or increase its support for the agency.
He added that traffickers, arms dealers and terrorist groups operated across national boundaries, making stronger international cooperation necessary to counter their activities.
 for dismantling four methamphetamine laboratories allegedly linked to Mexican drug cartels in Nigeria in 2026, describing the operations as a significant contribution to international efforts to combat drug trafficking.){kind=link}