THE FEDERAL High Court in Ibadan, on Friday, remanded two Mexican nationals and four Nigerians in the Agodi Correctional Centre, standing trial over alleged membership of a drug trafficking cartel and operation of an illegal drug laboratory.
The two Mexicans are Jose Ochoa and Carrera Arturo while the Nigerians include Bankole Owolabi, Ganiyu Monsiu, Yusuf Akanbi and Maxwell Nevoh.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arraigned the defendants on a four-count charge of conspiracy, manufacturing, transportation and distribution as well as possession of chemical substances.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the defendants were accused of establishing an illegal laboratory factory for the production of methamphetamine, a psychotropics substance similar to cocaine,heroin and LSD.
Justice Nkeone Maha ordered that the defendants be remanded at Agodi Correctional Centre after they pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Maha further ordered the prosecuting counsel, Mr Adekunle Adebajo, to serve the proof of evidence on all counsel to the defendants.
She thereafter adjourned the case until Nov. 26, 27, 28 and 29 for commencement of trial.
Earlier, Counsel to the NDLEA, Adebajo, informed the court that the defendants conspired to establish a laboratory within Lagos and Oyo States.
He said that the defendants without lawful authority allegedly engaged in the production of methamphetamine, a psychotropic substance similar to cocaine, heroin and LSD.
The counsel further alleged that the defendants at various locations in Lagos and Oyo States engaged in the transportation and distribution of materials for the purpose of manufacturing 1.260 kilogrammes of methamphetamine.
He alleged that the defendants on June 17 at Tapa Village in Ibarapa Local Government Area of Oyo State without lawful authority engaged in the manufacturing of 1.260 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, a psychotropic substance similar to cocaine, heroin and LSD.
The counsel said that the offences were committed between December 2025 and June 2026 at different locations in Lagos and Oyo States.
Adebajo said that the offences were punishable under Section 14(b),20(2)(a) and 19 of NDLEA Act,Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
The defendants, however, plead not guilty to the charges.
The prosecution counsel urged the court to remand the defendants at Agodi Correctional Centre and requested for an adjournment.
Counsel to the first defendant, Mr Echeme Ekeghe, informed the court that his client, Ochoa, was a diabetic patient who needed medical attention.
Ekeghe told the court that a proper application would be filed with respect to the place of remand.
On his part, Mr Benson Ndakara, counsel to the second defendant (Arturo) and Mrs Oreofe Ogunleye, counsel to the third, fourth, fifth and sixth defendants informed the court that they had no objections to the prosecution’s request for remand. (NAN)
