• Describes forest-hidden meth labs as emerging threat

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has alerted the public to a fraudulent scheme by criminal elements using the names of top officials of the agency to target unsuspecting Nigerians.
   
It explained that the fraudsters particularly use the name of the NDLEA Secretary, Shadrach Haruna, to issue fake letters and messages offering forfeited vehicles for sale at discounted auction prices.
   
Disclaiming the offers as entirely fraudulent, the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said: “These fraudulent offers are a malicious gimmick designed solely to defraud targeted individuals of their hard-earned money.”
   
In a statement, he emphasised that “no official of the agency has the mandate to privately offer, allocate or sell forfeited vehicles or any other seized assets to individuals.” He clarified that “vehicles and other assets forfeited as proceeds of drug crimes are auctioned only through public processes managed by appointed, government-registered auctioneers.
   
“Any legitimate auction exercise is widely publicised in national newspapers and through the agency’s official channels, in line with established legal and public procurement guidelines.”
   
Urging the public to disregard and report any private letters, text messages, or social media posts claiming to originate from Haruna or any other NDLEA official, Babafemi said:

“The NDLEA remains committed to maintaining transparency and integrity in all its operations.”
   
Meanwhile, the anti-drug agency has identified clandestine methamphetamine laboratories concealed in forests as an emerging security threat.
   
It warned that international drug cartels are increasingly partnering Nigerian syndicates to establish industrial-scale drug laboratories in remote forest locations under the guise of farming.
   
The agency disclosed that it dismantled the largest clandestine methamphetamine laboratory ever discovered in Nigeria, intercepted drug consignments worth hundreds of billions of naira, and secured 1,778 convictions, including those of 65 drug kingpins, between January and May 2026.
   
Babafemi told newsmen during a briefing by spokespersons of security, defence and law enforcement agencies at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) in Abuja that during the same period, the NDLEA recorded 9,769 arrests and seized illicit drugs valued at about N480 billion.
   
According to him, “the first strike targeted an industrial-scale clandestine meth laboratory hidden inside a remote farm in Abidagba Forest in Ijebu East Local Council Area of Ogun State, where seven cartel operators were caught in the act of production.
   
“Simultaneously, a tactical team raided a fortified luxury property in Lakowe, Lekki and Lagos, arresting the cartel’s kingpin, named as Anochili Innocent. Also arrested were three Mexican methamphetamine technicians, who were brought into Nigeria for their chemical synthesis expertise.
   
“In total, 10 cartel members were arrested,” he said. “The forensic team recovered 2,419.48 kilogrammes of precursor chemicals, industrial solvents and crystallised methamphetamine valued at $362.9 million (about N480 billion) on the international market, making it the largest single drug seizure by value in Nigeria’s history.”
   
According to him, over 15 drug-related hotspots were identified and dismantled in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) during the period, with 132 suspects arrested.
   
In Delta State, 65,000 kilogrammes of cannabis plants cultivated across 26 hectares of forest farmland were destroyed, Babafemi said, in addition to enforcement operations.
   
Also, said it counselled, treated and rehabilitated 6,533 drug users between January and May, 2026, adding that, through 2,252 War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, workplaces, worship centres, motor parks and markets, the agency reached over 770,000 Nigerians.
   
He further disclosed that the NDLEA launched an Alternative Development Pilot Project in January 2026 to help the communities that are dependent on illicit crop cultivation transition to legal and sustainable livelihoods, with support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
   
He listed Lekan Jimoh, alias “Kanmo-kanmo”, who is a notorious drug kingpin wanted for the murder of three NDLEA officers in Ogun State, among the notable arrests during the period.
   
The others included a 30-year-old Brazilian woman arrested at the Abuja airport with 30.09 kilogrammes of heroin concealed in factory-sealed coffee packs; a drug kingpin who operated a transnational drug logistics network from the Ikoyi Correctional Centre while serving a sentence for cocaine trafficking; and a former two-term Lagos councillor arrested with 40 kilogrammes of cannabis at his Ijebu-Lekki residence.