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, Lagos State on an 11-count criminal charge and sent to prison for setting up of a super clandestine laboratory and production of 2,419.48 kilograms of methamphetamine worth over N480 billion.
The laboratory was set up in the international market at Mowe village, Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The defendants: Anochili Innocent, 63-year-old Nigerian; Juan Carlos Meza Torrero, 49; Nemecio Martinez Felix, 46; Jesus López Valles, 40, all Mexican nationals; Nwankwo Sunday Christian, 41; Egwuonwu Uchenna Victor, 38; Igwe Abuchi Remijus, 43; Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike Joshua, 23; Omonughwa Kingsley Orike, 45; and Nwobum Emeka, 59, were docked on Friday following their arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in coordinated raids in Ogun and Lagos States between May 16 and 18, 2026.
Suspects arrested in the super lab hidden deep inside Mowe forest, Ijebu East LGA of Ogun State on May 16 were Nwankwo Sunday Christian, Igwe Abuchi Remijus, Ifeanyichukwu Chibuike Joshua, and Egwuonwu Uchenna Victor, as well as the three Mexican meth experts: Martinez Felix Nemecto, Jesus López Valles, and Torrero Juan Carlos, while the cartel’s mastermind, Anochili Innocent, was simultaneously arrested at his luxury residence located at 8, Tafawa Balewa Street, Golf Estate, Lakowe, Lekki area of Lagos State.
In follow-up operations on Monday, 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, Kingsley Orike Omonughwa, was arrested, after which investigators stormed the residence of another syndicate member, Emeka Nwobum, whose property served as the cartel’s strategic stash house, on the same day.
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); 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); and the 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 detailed 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 Innocent, described 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 10 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 asking for more time.
The court consequently ordered that the defendants be remanded in the Correctional Centre in Lagos with the case adjourned to July 16 and 22 for trial and hearing of the application for bail.
Speaking on the arraignment, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General 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.
Marwa said: “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.”
He reiterated NDLEA’s commitment to rid 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.
