The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency's request to demolish a covert methamphetamine factory discovered in a secluded forest in Ogun State will be heard by the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday, July 24. Following a special court session on Wednesday at the facility in Mowe village, Ijebu East Local Government Area of the state, Justice Musa Kakaki set the date.
On July 10, the NDLEA charged three Mexicans and seven Nigerians with eleven counts related to the purported creation and operation of the covert laboratory. The agency claims that its agents found chemicals and equipment purportedly needed to make 2,419.48 kg of methamphetamine, which is estimated to be worth more than ₦480 billion on the black market.
The defendants are charged with producing and having substantial amounts of methamphetamine, a psychotropic drug that is categorized with heroin, cocaine, and LSD.
Additionally, the prosecution claimed that the defendants oversaw and provided funding for a drug trafficking network that carried precursor chemicals from Lagos to the isolated lab.
Toluene, phenyl-2-propanone, phenylacetic acid, acetone, and hydrochloric acid were purportedly among the substances.
The NDLEA also accused the defendants of illegally possessing 22.5 kilograms of acetone, 1,834 kilograms of hydrochloric acid, and 358 kilograms of toluene, all of which were purportedly used to produce methamphetamine.
A Toyota Tacoma, a Mercedes-Benz with registration number APP 942 YL, and a Toyota Highlander with registration number GWA 662 DJ are among the vehicles in which the defendants, who have all entered not guilty pleas to the charges, are accused of trafficking drugs.
Channels TV reports that the prosecution brought Ajilema Anebi, a covert laboratory expert, as its first witness during the trials on Wednesday.
Anebi told the court that huge amounts of methamphetamine purportedly meant for export were produced and stored using materials found in the laboratory where the second through eighth defendants were detained.
He said that his team's scientific analysis was used to identify the chemicals. The witness also described how alcohol and hydrochloric acid are involved in the synthesis of benzene and methamphetamine.
While the inventory of chemicals and equipment taken from the laboratory had already been accepted in evidence, Anebi presented "exhibits relating to equipment and chemicals recovered from the facility."
Adekunle Adebanjo, the prosecutor for NDLEA, called the court's "attention to the agency's pending application seeking leave to destroy the facility" throughout the hearings. But Defense attorneys, led by Benson Ndakara, objected to some of the exhibits presented to the court and disagreed with parts of the prosecution's case.
Justice Kakaki "adjourned the matter until July 24 for a ruling on the NDLEA's application" following the hearing of both sides' arguments.
The decision will decide whether the agency may demolish the covert lab, which it described as a significant facility for the manufacture of methamphetamine purportedly intended for markets outside of Nigeria.
The Anochili Innocent Drug Trafficking Organization was reportedly running the laboratory, which was concealed in Abidagba Forest in Ogun State's Ijebu East Local Government Area. Buba Marwa, the head of NDLEA, revealed that the lab was discovered in May 2026 as a result of concerted intelligence operations in Lagos and Ogun states.
In June, the NDLEA discovered a multibillion-naira clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in the South West state of Oyo. Five suspects were apprehended, including a Mexican national who was allegedly hired to provide technical expertise for the illicit operation. Meth production labs are not an isolated instance of decay in our society.