How Mexican drug cartels have outsourced meth labs to Nigeria

What the report says

BBC World News reports that Nigerian authorities have taken the unusual step of holding a federal high court hearing inside a suspected methamphetamine laboratory hidden in forest in Ogun state, about two hours from Lagos. Justice Musa Kakaki inspected chemicals and equipment at the site, where three Mexicans and seven Nigerians were presented in handcuffs over accusations that they were involved in producing meth, also known locally as ice.

Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said the suspects were arrested in May in what it called the country’s largest meth bust, involving more than two tonnes of the drug with an estimated value of about $360m. The agency said the site was part of a sophisticated Nigerian-Mexican production network. The BBC also reported that another forest laboratory was found the following month in neighbouring Oyo state, where five people were arrested, including a Mexican described by authorities as a methamphetamine expert.

The report places the raids in a wider pattern: West Africa is increasingly seen by drug networks not only as a transit route but as a production base for synthetic drugs. US Africa Command official James Griego told the BBC that Mexican meth production expertise has appeared in laboratories in several African countries, and that intelligence has linked some sites to major Mexican cartels, including Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation.

Authorities and analysts cited by the BBC say West Africa offers secluded land, access to Atlantic shipping routes, porous borders and weaker controls on chemical imports. They also warn that local consumption could rise, adding a public health risk to the region’s role in supplying markets in Europe and Asia.