A Federal High Court in Ibadan has remanded two Mexican nationals and four Nigerians at the Agodi Correctional Centre over their alleged involvement in the establishment and operation of an illegal methamphetamine production laboratory in Oyo and Lagos states.
The defendants, identified as Jose Ochoa, Carrera Arturo, Bankole Owolabi, Ganiyu Monsiu, Yusuf Akanbi and Maxwell Nevoh, were arraigned by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, illegal manufacture, transportation, distribution and possession of substances used in producing methamphetamine.
The prosecution alleged that the six defendants conspired between December 2025 and June 2026 to establish a clandestine drug manufacturing laboratory in Lagos and Oyo states.
They were also accused of procuring and moving chemical substances required for the production of 1.260 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, as well as manufacturing 1.250 kilogrammes of the illicit drug on June 17, 2026, at Tapa Village in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Prosecuting counsel, Adekunle Adebajo, told the court that the defendants were members of a drug trafficking organisation that allegedly coordinated the procurement and transportation of materials to different locations before setting up the illegal production facility.
After the defendants pleaded not guilty to all four counts, Adebajo urged the court to order their remand and fix a date for trial.
However, counsel to the first defendant, Ochoa, Echeme Ekeghe, told the court that his client was diabetic and indicated that he would file an appropriate application concerning his detention.
The lawyers representing the second defendant and the remaining four accused persons, Benson Ndakara and Oreofe Ogunleye, respectively, did not oppose the prosecution’s application for remand.
Justice Nkeone Maha subsequently ordered that all six defendants be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Centre.
She also directed the prosecution to serve the proof of evidence on the defence lawyers and fixed January 26, 27, 28 and 29, 2027, for the commencement of trial.
The prosecution of the defendants followed an NDLEA operation on June 17, 2026, when operatives uncovered and dismantled a fortified, industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory concealed in a forest at Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area.
Five of the accused persons — Ochoa, Owolabi, Monsiu, Akanbi and Nevoh — were reportedly arrested during the raid on the facility.
Further investigations subsequently led NDLEA operatives to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, where Arturo, the sixth defendant, was arrested in September 2026 after allegedly escaping the initial operation.
