The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Wednesday said it had detected 11 methamphetamine laboratories in Lagos, Anambra and Delta States.
Mitchell Ofoyeju, the Head of Public Affairs of the agency, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.
Ofoyeju said: “Official statistics of the NDLEA shows that 11 methamphetamine laboratories have so far been detected between June 2011 and March 2016.”
He said Lagos and Anambra States had five laboratories each, while one was found in Delta State.
Ofoyeju said the latest laboratory detected in March 2016, along Ibuzor Road in Asaba, the Delta State capital, had been described by experts as a “super” laboratory.
“This is because it has a whopping production capacity of between 3,000kgs and 4,000kgs of methamphetamine per production cycle, unlike the previous 10 laboratories that could only produce between 20kgs to 50kgs per production cycle,” he said.
Methamphetamine is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system.
Meth, as it is commonly called, is produced in clandestine laboratories using precursor chemicals.
It is commonly inhaled, smoked and injected with adverse consequences on users.
Ofoyeju noted that the arrest of four suspected Mexican drug lords and methamphetamine production experts further validated the large scope of the laboratory.
He also recalled that three Bolivian methamphetamine experts were arrested by the NDLEA in a clandestine laboratory at Satellite Town, Lagos in 2012.
“This arrest of foreigners is a reflection of the desperation of local drug cartel in forming unwholesome alliance with North American drug cartels,” he said.
The NDLEA spokesman further revealed that all nine accused persons, made up of four Mexicans and five Nigerians, had been arraigned by the NDLEA at the Federal High Court, Asaba for their alleged roles in the super laboratory.
He said at the time the laboratory was raided, methamphetamine production was in progress, adding that items recovered at the laboratory included 1.5kg of finished crystal methamphetamine and 750 litres of liquid methamphetamine.