How Mexican drug cartels have outsourced meth labs to Nigeria
Nigerian authorities have dismantled a large-scale methamphetamine production facility operated by a syndicate involving Mexican and Nigerian nationals. The operation, located in a remote forest, highlights the growing international reach of Mexican drug cartels in outsourcing synthetic drug manufacturing.
Why it matters
This indicates a significant shift in global drug trafficking patterns, with cartels establishing production hubs in Africa to bypass traditional supply chain constraints.
Image source, Reuters Image caption, Anti-narcotics officers inspect the site of a suspected illegal drug laboratory in a dense forested area of western Nigeria
The Nigerian judge was formally dressed, the lawyers maintained legal decorum and protocol was followed – but this hearing was not in the comfortable confines of a Lagos courtroom, it was inside an alleged illicit drug laboratory in the thick of a dense forest.
Three Mexicans and seven Nigerians were paraded in handcuffs, as Justice Musa Kakaki inspected the chemicals and equipment they were accused of using to produce the harmful illegal synthetic drug, methamphetamine, commonly known as meth, crystal meth or, locally, ice.
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