NDLEA alleges illegal drug firms, waste dump inLagos

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on
Thursday warned that Lagos residents were being
exposed to poisonous waste from some illegal
methamphetamine factories in the state.

The agency’s spokesman, Mr Mitchel Ofoyeju, told
the News Agency of Nigeria that it uncovered a total
of six such clandestine drug manufacturing
laboratories in Lagos in 2013.
The NDLEA spokesman said one of such
laboratories was also uncovered in Anambra State,
while 12 suspected manufacturers were arrested
nationwide in the year under review.
He said the agency believed the laboratories could
be found in any location, either in the streets or
estates within residential areas.
Ofoyeju, however, noted that such laboratories were
not easily identifiable because a room in a complex
could be converted into a laboratory.
The spokesman said from the six laboratories
uncovered in Lagos, the illegal drug manufacturers
were found to be in the habit of dumping the toxic
waste carelessly, in front of houses.
Ofoyeju stated that such houses usually did not
have sign posts, but chemical waste and coloured
water could be easily seen in the drains around
them.
He called on members of the public to watch out for
various ways of identifying clandestine laboratories.
Ofoyeju urged the public to be on the look out for
foul smelling chemicals, as well as areas where
individuals experienced skin irritations.
NAN reports that methamphetamine is a powerful
addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous
system.
The drug is not made for local abuse, but is usually
exported to Asia, Europe, America and Southern
Africa.