AFTER years of test running, importation and distribution Nigerian, drug barons have changed their strategy: they now produce locally, illicit hard drugs. And their raw materials are toxic wastes.
This stunning discovery came 25 years after the Italian businessman, Gianfranco Rafaelli, imported over 8,000 drums of toxic wastes into the country and dumped some in the sleeping town of Koko in Warri North Local Council of Delta State.
These merchants are generating toxic wastes, which are more dangerous than the ones received by Mr. Sunday Nana, the man who ignorantly harboured the Koko toxic dump for a monthly fee of $50 in 1987.
In the past, drug pushers from Nigeria used to go through the traditional routes of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Thailand and Latin American countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia and Peru.
Nigeria used to
be a transit route. Drug cartels have now designed and perfected an extremely dangerous method of locally producing and exporting hard drugs.
The alleged drug barons were very smart, so it seemed. They felt instead of going to Latin America to procure their drugs and transport to America, Asia or Europe, they could as well bring Bolivian and Colombian drug manufacturers into the country.
Investigations revealed that drug barons have shifted their basis to West Africa and this has also become worrisome to Untied Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the United States and the European Union are trying to assist Nigeria to combat the drug cartels through training of anti-narcotic agents.
In one year alone, the National Drug Law enforcement Agency (NDLEA) seized 335, 534. 34 kilogrammes of Cannabis; 530, 4033 kilogrammes of psychotropic substances; 3655. 4904 kilogrammes of Cocaine and 11.6054 kilogrammes of Heroin. A total of 920 drug offenders were prosecuted successfully by NDLEA in eight months.
These barons brought in one of the best Colombian hard drug makers, whom they paid $35,000 weekly.
In one of the production facilities, three Bolivians — Yhugo Chavez Morena, 39; Ruben Ticona Jorge, 21, and Yerko Artunduga Dorodu, 19 — were also sheltered in Satellite Town, Lagos to produce hard drugs believed to be distributed in Nigeria and also destined for export to Europe, Asia and America.
A suspected Nigerian drug baron, who lives in his sprawling edifice in Festac Town, Lagos had brought in the three Bolivians to help him in the local production of the highly dangerous methamphetamine in Satellite Town, about two kilometres away to his property in Festac Town.
He found a three-bedroom bungalow, which he rented for two years at a cost of N1.5 million. Bolivians were first brought with an Argentine into the bungalow. Later, the Argentine was replaced with another Bolivian. Thus began a silent and aggressive production of methamphetamine from Lagos.
The premises was secluded and hidden behind the high walls. Neighbours did not suspect and even the female-caretaker of the house was kept in the dark.
The baron told her he had brought the Bolivians to merely reside in the house so that they could easily work in his supposed ‘Agro Allied’ factory in Agbara, Ogun State.
The Bolivians rarely went out, The Guardian investigations revealed neighbours only saw them occasionally when they were being driven out and back into the house. People thought they were just normal expatriates.
To relax, they played football and would only step into the next compound when their ball fell into the premises, until the landlady of the house warned them to desist from playing the football into her premises.
Unknown to her, the Bolivians were into a real game of drugs perfected by a drug baron who live in opulence in FESTAC 77 Town. This was the special town built in 1977 to host the world’s festival of African Arts and Culture.
The Guardian combed the buildings through a cocktail of hazardous chemicals and toxic legacy left by the drug cartel.
Identity cards of two of the Bolivians recovered bore numbers; 4639612 and 977978 respectively.
There are other drug production factories in Ajah as well as Jakande Estate in Isolo. The fourth illicit production site is in Awka, Anambra State.
Tony Edi, 50, and Olisa Onyebuchi, 45, are the alleged operators of the laboratory at Balogun Estate, off Lekki Epe Expressway, Lagos. They are cooling off in some cells in the country.
The Guardian investigations revealed that five houses in Lagos and Anambra states used by these barons have become contaminated, making them unfit for human habitation.
Also discovered in the homes used by the drug barons and the Colombian were high level of toxic fumes and contaminants. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has sealed off these houses after they were discovered.
Extensive investigations in Lagos and Eastern part of the country where the first kinds of illicit production method of methamphetamine, which was recently discovered in West Africa was done, showed that hazardous mercury and lead wastes have been released into the public drainage system. Mercury affects nervous system while lead causes mental retardation in children.
Generally, public water supply is non-existent in all these areas and people depend on boreholes and streams for water consumption.
The Guardian gathered that these illicit factories are located in built-up areas where boreholes and water tanks used for drinking are not for away.
Also worrisome is the uncaring nature and desperation of the drug barons in their quest to make money without concern for the health of individuals near their illicit and dangerous factories of production.
For example, the baron who built his illicit factory in the Eastern part of Nigeria situated the factory in the basement where his mother lives.
At these production centres, hazardous and toxic materials were found. The pungent and toxic fumes were felt in the residential areas. The colours on buildings used for production had been peeling of and the rooms can no longer be habitable because of the smell of hazardous substances.
The identity cards of some of the foreign barons being used for the local production, which showed that they are Bolivians, were discovered in the house used for the illicit drug production when The Guardian visited with NDLEA operatives.
The Guardian discovered from the travel documents found in the house of one of the alleged barons indicated that the Bolivian had travelled from Santa Cruz to Bolivia, Sao Paulo with AREROSUQ Air and with a South African Airways Boeing 737-300 to Johannesburg. He later moved to Mozambique. This was possibly used as a decoy but Lagos, Nigeria was the ultimate destination.
In the world of criminals, they operate with what is called The Devil’s Trinity in some circles. This involves dealing in drugs, arms and toxic wastes to make money. These have crept into Nigeria since the execution of three drug barons: Bernard Ogedegbe, Batholomew Owoh and Alhaji Ojulope by the military regime of General Muhammadu Buhari in 1984.
According to sources, the growth of The Devil’s Trinity has increased in the country. This must have contributed to the growing wave of terror in the country.
For example, a baron, Mr. Kindreck Dion Lee, a 34 years old man who was declared wanted by Lancashire Constabulary Police Operation Greengate Team for allegedly importing The Devils Trinity; cocaine, cannabis, firearms and arms into the United Kingdom from Amsterdam was picked up in Nigeria by NDLEA officers after some years with a changed identity.
He was born in UK by a Dutch mother and a Nigeria father. So he triple roots and he could claim them.
Anti-narcotic operatives followed a lead and went on his trail. And when NDLEA operatives picked up Dion Lee, they found him with a Nigerian passport bearing his photograph and the name Olusegun Babajide.
Experts said last week that the setting up of the NDLEA had curbed the drug monster with a toll on the life and blood on anti-narcotics agents. But a lot needs to be done on the part of the government to strengthen the agency.
“If not for NDLEA’s awareness programme and prosecution of many people, a lot of people would have come into the drug business;” said a source which requested to be anonymous.
However, barons like the one The Guardian combed their hideouts and production facilities with NDLEA operatives have devised means to beat the system.
The Guardian investigations at the factories of the illicit hard drug production, which was not known to the residents of the various production estates confirmed the presence of residues and emission of dangerous gases. These gases cause instant damage to the lungs and can lead to death if they are inhaled.
It was confirmed that the houses where the production of these drugs took place are still harmful to human health. A tree in one of the residences has withered due to the effect of the chemicals used in the drug production. The soil has been contaminated.
Drugs and environmental experts say that such houses are still harmful for human habitation even after clean-up exercise.
Methamphetamine is also known as Meth. Its street names are chalk, ice, crystal, speed and glass. It could cause anxiety, insomnia, confusion and psychotic features such as: hallucinations, delusions etc.
Investigations show that meth is sold in some parts of Lagos very cheaply and a pinch can go for as little as N100, which is less than a dollar. It is also gathered that cartels make their money because of the huge demand by the dream of local militia, neighbourhood gangs (who sometimes confront security agencies) bandits and some poor artisans who are ignorant of the hard drug’s effect on human health.
The drug barons live a lavish lifestyle in some of the world’s capitals. They have fleet of cars and houses built with the best convenience found in the First World.
Mr. Lucky, a notorious Nigerian drug baron, who was one of the biggest drug merchants in Eastern Europe, told this reporter that barons have perfected dubious systems of selling their drugs even inside prison walls of most advanced economies. The baron who a was jailed in Russia for eight years before returning to Nigeria said that he began his dangerous business on the streets of Mushin, Lagos, one of the most restive and volatile regions of Lagos.
He confessed that he sold drugs inside the Russian jail through a chain that has been perfected for years. One of the most notorious criminals in the Russian jail was once his client inside the prison.
“Some of the boys used in the packaging are even brought from the villages and are very ignorant of the toxic effects of the drugs. They work on the drugs with bare hands,” a source noted, adding that some of them had unfortunately died and no one has linked their heath to exposure to high level of toxicity.
There were fears that with the heat turned on these drug dealers in Lagos,
some of them are running east wards and they may end up in other countries with porous borders. Anti narcotic experts stressed the need for collaboration amongst all security agencies, UN member states at local and international level.
Otunba Femi Ajayi, Director-General of NDLEA, told The Guardian that the proliferation of hard drugs in the country is linked to the increasing wave of crime in the country.
He said that it’s inhuman and wicked for anyone to embark on this kind of business in residential areas.
While saying that the houses used for drug business are not habitable, the NDLEA boss, noted that those who live around the drug cartel’s factory are living in very hazardous environment.
Apart from high level of toxic wastes generated during production, when methamphetamine enters the brain, it triggers a release of chemicals involved in mood regulation, he pointed out.
A Voyage Around Monkey Village
IT could have been just another adventure. Perhaps, a travelogue. But this journey was not. It was a voyage around Monkey Village. And possibly, journey to monkey business.
Monkey Village!... The name sounded like a pawn. It seemed a name coined by jesters for their buffoonery. But it was not. This is the name of one of the locations where hard drugs are produced locally in Nigeria.
It’s an Island between the Lagos Lagoon and Atlantic Ocean. It’s not far from Apapa, Nigeria’s premier port, which accounts for the largest import and export in the sub region.
The village is about 10 minutes by boat from the jetties in Victoria Island area, where the rich, the powerful and the diplomatic community live.
Isolated and devoid of the hustle and bustle of Lagos, the Island has little presence of security operatives. No wonder, in a short time, it became a haven for criminal activities including hard drug production.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) recently raided some
illicit drug manufacturing factories in the country and I was part of the team that went round to have a first-hand feel of the environmental implications and toxic level of the hazardous sites.
There was excitement in the air, as we set out this early morning on our mission to unravel the tricky business of hard drugs manufacturing that was just sprouting in the country.
Bearing in mind the deadly confrontation between the drug cartels and security agents in Colombia, Mexico and Bolivia, everybody was armed. But I wasn’t.
My mind went to the photographs of young anti-narcotic officers gunned down by drug cartels recently in the line of duty. Many of them were cut off in their prime.
As I thought about them, I remembered the agency could hardly pay for their burial expenses and other entitlements because of poor funding.
My mind eyes wondered back to this assignment. There was no way I could chicken out with my earlier expressions of commitment to unravel the mysteries of the toxic legacy of drug barons and their factories.
First, we had a near brush with a lock-wearing guy. Then again, we meandered through pot-holed riddled road leading to another secluded area, the Daily Times Estate.
Once upon a time, Daily Times Newspapers was the pride of Nigerian journalism, having been set up in 1920s. The doyen of Nigerian journalism who fought colonialism against Britain worked there. The estate was built to cater for journalists and other staff of the newspaper. But now, it has become a drug baron’s factory site. Three Bolivians manufactured the illicit drug, methamphetamine, without anyone suspecting.
As soon as we gained entrance into the premises, unpleasant smell hit us. The air was awful and everywhere choked.
The caretaker, a cheerful, light complexioned middle-aged woman joined us. We went through the three-bedroom bungalow complex and checked some things. The caretaker narrated how one of the barons had deceived her to get the property.
She was told that they needed the property to accommodate three expatriates working on an agro-based company in Agbara Estate in Ogun State.
Until their nefarious activities were exposed, neighbours, including the caretaker, were not allowed into the premises. Even when the caretaker banged the door to alert them about the need to switch to public electricity supply from their electric generator, they never opened.
Football was their only pastime. And the Bolivians only ventured out when their ball entered the next compound to pick it up.
The trip to Balogun Estate, Ajah, another drug factory site was tortuous. Only a sports utility vehicle could make it through the sandy, swampy and bumpy road that led to a wetland area.
We combed the premises only to discover that some thieves had broken into the premises with a hammer. We spotted the hard drugs formulation factory inside. The method of operation was similar to previous ones.
Down the line, on the same terrain, was a borehole that was meant to supply drinking water. It shared the same ground level with the factory making it easier for rainwater to wash toxic chemicals and drugs residues into the water.
While combing the premises, the mobile phone of one of the anti-narcotics agent rang.
“The man has been freed? The court freed him?” the officer asked dejectedly. His face looked gloomy, as rain began to drizzle on us.
I later found out from the officer that the court had just set a suspected drug baron free.
“That’s what we get after we have nabbed these people,” remarked another officer.
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