On June 6, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) uncovered a methamphetamine-producing laboratory situated in a duplex in the Maryland area of Lagos State.
On a visit to the building on Monday, FIJ discovered that the two-paired gate to what the NDLEA had described as a ‘clandestine laboratory’ was unsealed and there were signs of human occupation of the duplex.
The details of the operation were contained in a press statement signed by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director, Media and Advocacy, reporting the week-long activities of the agency at its various commands nationwide.
READ MORE: NDLEA Finds Secret Lab Producing Meth in Lagos
The laboratory was located at 4, Bode Oluwo Street, near Mende-Araromi Central Mosque, Maryland, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The agency stated at the time that the house owner fled but it was making efforts to apprehend the owner. Methamphetamine and other controlled substances were recovered from the laboratory before it was sealed.
“Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), have uncovered a secret laboratory producing deadly illicit substance, methamphetamine, in a residential community located in Ikeja, Lagos State, where already packaged sachets of the drug and various precursor chemicals used in the production were recovered,” Babafemi said in the statement.
“The clandestine laboratory located at No 4 Bode Oluwo Street, Mende, Maryland, Ikeja, was stormed by the agency on Tuesday, 6th June, after credible intelligence and surveillance confirmed the illicit substance was being produced in the duplex building.
“At the end of the search, one kilogram of already produced and packaged methamphetamine, quantities of precursor chemicals and other items used for the production of the deadly illicit drug were recovered from the house while efforts are on to apprehend the fleeing owner of the house.”
In the early hours of Monday, FIJ observed that the cream-coloured padlock on the black metal gate had been removed. On a closer look, FIJ found that a Micra car with a Lagos State number plate KTU-153 AH was parked in the compound of the house.
READ ALSO: Nigerians Who Pick Luggage for Others Risk Drug-Related Arrest at Airports
We also observed that one window upstairs was open and the entire premises had been cleaned, clearly suggesting some people were occupying the investigated property.
On a return visit today, this reporter met a part of the double-gate open and the cream-coloured padlock hanging on the padlock loop from the inside.
A lady in the area told FIJ that she did not know if it was the NDLEA that unsealed the property or if it was the landlord.
The agency’s marks boldly written on the building read, “Under investigation. Sealed by the NDLEA, Lagos Command. 6/6/2023”. Those markings had not been erased at press time.
The reopening of the property raised some questions that FIJ could not obtain responses to.
Some questions were sent via email to the agency on Monday but there was no acknowledgement for the mail at the time of this publication. The NDLEA’s Lagos head office phone number (+2348062199999), copied from its website, was switched off when FIJ dialed it on Wednesday.
No evidence was available in the public domain indicating that the agency had arrested the property’s owner or that it had ordered the building to be unsealed at press time.