Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a drug baron and a chemist following the discovery of a secrete laboratory in Victoria Garden City (VGC) in Lagos State.
Also, the operatives arrested another baron in Anambra State after discovering a similar laboratory in the state.
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Giving an update of the discovery on Tuesday via the official Twitter account of the agency by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy in a statement said about 258.74kg of dangerous illicit drug, crystal methamphetamine, called Mkpuru Mmiri in local parlance, produced for distribution across Nigeria and export were recovered from the two laboratories.
Revealing the identity of the suspects, the director said the laboratory located in VGC, Estate, Lagos, is owned by a baron, Chris Emeka Nzewi, while the second, in Nise Community, Anambra State, was owned by Paul Ozoemenam.
“The barons were arrested alongside Sunday Ukah, the cook or chemist that produced the drugs for them. The laboratory in Lagos was set up inside the Boys Quarter building of a four-bedroom duplex.
“The owner of the laboratory in VGC, for instance,was producing this highly unstable and trexic drug in a house where he lived with his family,” he said.
Mr Babafemi explained that sighting a laboratory of this nature poses a health hazard to residents in the area.
The timely intervention of the agency has disrupted plans of the barons who were bent on increasing production capacity from 50 kilos of methamphetamine every week to 100kg.
“If that is the case, that is an indication that public health was of no concern to him. In this particular case, aside from the laboratory being close to the kitchen of the main house, the waste from the laboratory was channelled into the septic tank and soak away in the compound, with a high risk of contamination of the water table of the entire neighbourhood.
“On average, the lab produced 50 kilos of methamphetamine every week with plans underway to increase the capacity of production to at least 1OOkg per week.
“It is very important to note that the waste from methamphetamine production is dangerous to the ecosystem. The chemicals are toxic and once they seep into the soil,they contaminate the water table from which surrounding wells and boreholes draw their water.
“And citizens who unwittingly consume the water from such sources are exposed to heart and kidney ailments and other organ diseases. What makes it worse is that the production usually takes place in the middle of the night, between 11 pm and 4 am,and therefore,unsuspecting neighbours could have been exposed to the hazards for months or even years,” he added.
Watch video below:
This video reveals how NDLEA operatives busted Mkpuru Mmiri labs in VGC, Lagos and Nise community, Anambra state. pic.twitter.com/IPPvtYFSdX
— NDLEA NIGERIA (@ndlea_nigeria) August 2, 2022
