00:02Before its destruction, this meth lab sat on an acre of land in a forest in Ogun state of Nigeria.
00:10The scale and sophistication of the oppressions has worried authorities who suspect that Mexican cartels may be involved.
00:18A court has since ordered the facility to be dismantled after an ongoing trial involving three Mexican nationals.
00:26There was an operation that took place here.
00:31Seven Nigerians and three foreign nationals of Mexican cartels were arrested in these particular premises.
00:40So the reason why we are here is we are executing a court order.
00:45Last week, Friday, we got a judgment from the Federal High Kodikoyi to dismantle this mega laboratory.
00:52West Africa has in recent years emerged as a transit point for drugs making their way from South America to
01:00Europe, mostly cocaine.
01:03Other substances like meth can be produced locally.
01:09The waterbed is being destroyed. Of course, it's being contaminated with serious toxic chemicals, waste from the lab.
01:18Also, the pollution in the air. Of course, we have some humans, people living around, which is not good for
01:25them to inhale such gases.
01:27So, of course, both for life, for plants, for animals, for human safety and public health is very, very, you
01:36know, destructive.
01:38For months, villagers living close to the site had noticed a flurry of activity but never suspected drugs were being
01:46made there.
01:47Even the pungent smell from the area was mistaken for pig waste.
01:52I was excited when they came into our community. I had thought the equipment being moved in was for the
01:58construction of a mega residential estate.
02:04Meth seizures and raids on labs in Nigeria have been on the rise since around 2011, according to a 2019
02:12report from the Institute for Security Studies as Latin American specialists exported their know-how to the country.
02:19And it was very tardy.
02:22It was very, very rare
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