By RhemDy News
A 63-year-old drug baron, Anochili Innocent, three Mexican nationals and six other Nigerians have been arraigned before Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The suspects were arraigned on an 11-count criminal charge bordering on the setting up of a super clandestine laboratory and the production of 2,419.48 kilograms of methamphetamine worth over N480 billion in the International Market at Mowe Village, Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.
Spokesman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Femi Babafemi, in a statement in Abuja, said the defendants were docked on Friday July 10, 2026, following their arrest by operatives of the anti-narcotics agency in coordinated raids in Ogun and Lagos States between May 16 and 18, 2026.
Aside from Anochili, others include Juan Carlos Meza Torrero, 49; Nemecio Martinez Felix, 46 and Jesus López Valles, 40, all Mexican nationals.
The Nigerians among them include Nwankwo Sunday Christian, 41; Egwuonwu Uchenna Victor, 38; Igwe Abuchi Remijus, 43; Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike Joshua, 23; Omonughwa Kingsley Orike, 45; and 59-year-old Nwobum Emeka.
The suspects arrested in the super lab hidden deep inside the Mowe Forest of Ogun State, on May 16 are Christian; Igwe, Ifeanyichukwu and Egwuonwu as well as the three Mexican meth experts, Nemecto, Valles and Carlos.
The cartel's mastermind, Anochili, was simultaneously arrested at his luxury residence located at No. 8 Tafawa Balewa Street, Golf Estate, Lakowe, Lekki area of Lagos State.
In follow-up operations on Monday May 18, 2026, NDLEA operatives stormed another property owned by the baron at House 70, Close 3, Mayfair Estate, Lakowe, Lekki, Lagos, where another key member of the syndicate, Omonughwa, was arrested.
Another syndicate member, Emeka Nwobum, whose property served as the cartel's strategic stash house was apprehended the same day by investigators.
The 11-count charge, filed by the NDLEA prosecution team accused the defendants of conspiring, between February and May 16, 2026, to establish a clandestine laboratory for the preparation, processing and production of methamphetamine, in violation of Section 14(b) of the NDLEA Act.
Other counts include managing, organising and financing a drug trafficking organisation contrary to Section 20(1)(g).
They were also charged with unlawfully transporting precursor chemicals, including toluene, phenyl-2-propane (P2P), phenyl acetic acid, acetone and hydrochloric acid, from Lagos to the Mowe laboratory using a Toyota Tacoma, a Mercedes Benz marked APP 942 YL and a Toyota Highlander marked GWA 662DJ, contrary to Section 20(1)(f).
NDLEA also charged them for unlawful production and possession of the 2,419.48kg haul of methamphetamine, contrary to Sections 11(a) and 19 of the Act respectively.
The charge sheet further details the separate possession of large quantities of precursor chemicals recovered at the laboratory, including 358kg of toluene, 1,834kg of hydrochloric acid and 22.5kg of acetone, alongside quantities of P2P and phenyl acetic acid, all contrary to Section 20(1)(e) of the NDLEA Act.
In a count peculiar to only the kingpin, Anochili who was identified by the agency as the owner of the fenced expanse of land on which the super lab was sited, he was charged separately under Section 12 of the NDLEA Act for unlawfully allowing his property to be used for the production of the illicit drug.
All ten defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read before Justice Kakaki.
The prosecution thereafter called seven witnesses to commence trial having served the defence the proof of evidence since July 3, 2026 but the defence objected, instead asking for more time.
The court consequently ordered the defendants to be remanded in the Correctional Centre in Lagos with the case adjourned to the July 16 and 22 for trial and hearing of the application for bail.
Speaking on the arraignment, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) said the case represents one of the most significant dismantling of an industrial-scale narcotics production operation on Nigerian soil, underscoring the increasingly transnational character of drug trafficking networks now desperate to exploit Nigeria as a manufacturing base for onward export.
"The presence of Mexican nationals among those arrested and arraigned today speaks to the alarming reach of international drug cartels now attempting to entrench themselves in Nigeria, but the Agency will not relent in tracking down and dismantling every such network, no matter how well concealed or well-financed", Marwa stated.
He reiterated NDLEA’s commitment to ridding Nigeria of drug cartels and their local collaborators, and called on members of the public to continue providing useful information to support the Agency's operations nationwide.
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