The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA has confirmed the arrest of the owner of a meth laboratory that was being operated by one Chris Nwezi in the Victoria Garden City estate in Lagos state.

Over the weekend, the story of how men of the anti-drug agency carried out a sting operation in the estate and arrested the man who ran the laboratory where the toxic substance was produced.

Confirming this development to newsmen today August 2, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) said two METH laboratories have so far been uncovered.

“The first one, located in Victoria Garden City (VGC) Estate of Lekki, Lagos, is owned by a baron, Chris Emeka Nzewi.

The laboratory in Lagos was set up inside the Boys Quarter building of a four-bedroom duplex. From there, we recovered a total of 258.74 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine and various precursor chemicals used for the production of the toxic drug.

The complete paraphernalia of laboratory equipment such as gas cylinders, giant gas burners, industrial face masks, industrial gloves, tubes and flat-bottomed conical flasks, among others were also found.” he said

He said, the owner of the laboratory in VGC, for instance, was producing this highly unstable and toxic drug in a house where he lived with his family.

”This speaks volumes about his insensitivity to the consequences of exposing his family, which includes a three-month-old baby, to the danger of hazardous chemicals. If that is the case, that is an indication that public health was of no concern to him.

In this particular case, aside from the laboratory being close to the kitchen of the main house, the waste from the laboratory was channelled into the septic tank and soakaway in the compound, with a high risk of contamination of the water table of the entire neighbourhood.

On average, the lab produced 50 kilos of methamphetamine every week with plans underway to increase the capacity of production to at least 100kg per week.”