Mexican drug cartels have been shifting their meth production to Nigeria, outsourcing the dangerous and volatile process of manufacturing the drug. This move allows the cartels to avoid risks associated with operating in their home country, while still maintaining control over the global methamphetamine trade. Nigerian labs have become a crucial part of the cartels’ supply chain, producing large quantities of meth that are then smuggled to other parts of the world. The partnership between Mexican cartels and Nigerian labs has significant implications for the global fight against drug trafficking, as it highlights the increasingly complex and international nature of the meth trade.
Mexican drug cartels have been relocating their methamphetamine production operations to Nigeria, effectively outsourcing the hazardous and volatile process of manufacturing the drug. By doing so, the cartels can avoid the risks associated with operating in their home country while maintaining control over the global methamphetamine trade. Nigerian laboratories have become a crucial component of the cartels’ supply chain, producing substantial quantities of methamphetamine that are subsequently smuggled to other parts of the world. The partnership between Mexican cartels and Nigerian laboratories has significant implications for the global fight against drug trafficking, as it highlights the increasingly complex and international nature of the methamphetamine trade.
In a notable display, 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 and illicit synthetic drug, methamphetamine, commonly referred to as meth, crystal meth, or locally as ice. A pungent and bitter smell filled the air of the makeshift laboratory, emanating from a large drum of the liquid form of the drug that was in the process of crystallizing. Another potent odor originated from open vats of a dark, viscous liquid, described as “crude” or unprocessed methamphetamine.
Various products were scattered around the unfinished building, including propane gas cylinders and bags of caustic soda. The temporary relocation of the federal high court to a location two hours from Lagos was an unusual step for Nigeria’s judicial system, but the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) deemed it necessary to understand the scale of the operation. When the suspects were arrested in May, the agency described it as the country’s largest-ever methamphetamine bust, with over two tonnes of the drug worth approximately $360 million (£270 million) being discovered.
The NDLEA announced at the time that it had “dealt another crippling blow” and dismantled “a highly sophisticated, multi-million-dollar Nigerian-Mexican methamphetamine production syndicate.” The following month, agents discovered another methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forest in neighboring Oyo State, resulting in the arrest of five suspects, including one Mexican “methamphetamine expert.” These raids underscore a broader trend of Africa’s, and particularly West Africa’s, growing role in the global synthetic drugs trade and the shift by criminal cartels to utilize the continent not only as a trafficking hub but also as a production base.
Mexican specialists in manufacturing methamphetamine, often referred to as “cooks,” are increasingly being found working alongside locals in laboratories in Europe and Africa, according to law enforcement agencies. Methamphetamine production has become increasingly sophisticated over the past few decades. “They perfected it, to the point where it is now the highest purity, the highest potency version of meth,” James Griego, who leads counter-narcotics operations for US-Africa Command (Africom), stated in an interview with the BBC.
Africom, which oversees US military operations on the continent, has provided several national anti-drug organizations with intelligence to assist with their raids. “Anyone who is looking to consume methamphetamine understands that Mexican meth is the best in the world for that purpose,” Griego added. The first time the NDLEA announced it had discovered a Mexican-linked methamphetamine laboratory was in 2016, when it described it as a “super lab.” Since then, these laboratories, where Mexicans have been working, have been uncovered in Kenya, Mozambique, and South Africa.
Since 2023, “we’ve seen…14 Mexican-operated labs in total being raided. We saw the one in 2023 (in Mozambique), we saw six more in 2024, we saw two in 2025, and we’ve seen five this year,” Griego said. “This last year, when I talk about the five labs, four of the five are in Nigeria,” he added. Intelligence from Africom and the US Drug Enforcement Administration has linked some of the laboratories to Mexico’s two largest drug cartels: the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
Giving testimony to the US Congress in May, Africom commander Gen Dagvin Anderson alleged that militant groups and narco-traffickers have been working together. “African-based terror groups are financed to an increasing degree by drug cartels, expanding those terror groups’ reach and lethality,” he told lawmakers. Unlike plant-based drugs, such as cocaine or heroin, which can only be grown and processed in certain regions, a synthetic drug like methamphetamine can be produced anywhere with the right chemicals and expertise, making it easier for organized crime groups to quickly scale up production.
Methamphetamine is known for its rapid and long-lasting effects, delivering a euphoric high, but also has deeply unpleasant side effects, including a serious risk of cardiovascular problems, malnutrition due to poor diet, and, if injecting, blood-borne diseases. Withdrawal from the drug is also extremely challenging, often including feelings of anxiety, severe depression, fatigue, and intense cravings. As methamphetamine traffickers establish new distribution networks beyond their historical routes, more people are being exposed to the drug.
West Africa offers numerous attractive benefits to Mexican syndicates, starting with vast areas of forested land that provide ideal secluded production sites. “The population is also an attraction for them, especially the huge youth population, because with that, you get cheap labor and a market for local consumption,” NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi stated in an interview with the BBC. There are concerns among authorities that methamphetamine consumption will grow in Nigeria, where a 2018 survey found that 14.4% of the adult population had used an illicit drug – more than twice the global average as estimated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The use of the drug has spread across the continent, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. In East Africa, it has become widely available in countries like Kenya and Tanzania, and also in southern Africa, such as in South Africa, where it is known as “tik.” Drug syndicates are as interested in international drug markets as they are in the growing local market, and Africa’s location makes it easier to reach Asia and Europe. Producing drugs in West Africa provides traffickers with access to Atlantic shipping routes, combined with the region’s porous borders and weaker regulation of chemical imports, helping them reduce costs to lucrative consumer markets.
In Europe, the UNODC reported a 47% increase in methamphetamine use between 2014 and 2024. In East and Southeast Asia, seizures of the drug by authorities reached a record high in 2024. “It’s a shortening of their supply line into Asia and a shortening of their pathway into Europe,” said Griego. Since returning to office in 2025, US President Donald Trump has intensified efforts against Latin American drug cartels and their operations. “These cartels are feeling the pressure from other parts of the world,” said Babafemi, “and so they are looking at West Africa as a corporate production hub.”
Some experts believe that tighter scrutiny of traditional trafficking routes from Latin America may be one factor driving cartels to diversify their operations. “That has at least been a part of the calculus of why Mexican cartels have escalated their operations in Africa. That said, though, it is only part of the story,” said Griego. “Sinaloa and New Jalisco have always been global organizations. They have operated in Africa since the 1990s.” However, a recent rise in the number of raids on illicit methamphetamine laboratories in Africa could indicate that the cartels are becoming more entrenched on the continent.
What is clear is that the trade is no longer just transiting through the continent but is finding new manufacturing sites and markets. With measures such as the court hearing at the laboratory, increased surveillance, and intelligence use, the Nigerian authorities are determined to rise to the challenge. “It’s definitely a concern, but it helps us stay vigilant and be proactive. This is why we are able to get them before they’re able to move out into our communities and into the international market,” NDLEA spokesperson Babafemi stated. “We’ve been able to prove that Nigeria won’t be a safe haven for them.”
SOURCE: BBC
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