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CrimeAfrica

How drug cartels expand their reach across West Africa

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Brent Goff | Olisa Chukwumah in Lagos, Nigeria
May 25, 2026

Nigeria’s biggest meth lab bust ever, carried out by the country's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, is raising new fears about the growing connection between international drug cartels and terrorism in West Africa.

What's behind US claims about a growing nexus between Latin America and West African drug cartels?

DW looks into a massive meth lab bust in Nigeria, during which three Mexican nationals were detained, and speaks with Dr. Oluwole Ojewale, an organized crime expert with the Institute for Security Studies in Dakar, Senegal. 

"The criminals are diversifying their operation, and that cannot be disconnected from the growing demand of various illicit materials, contrabands and drugs that are being consumed within the continent," Dr. Ojewale says.  

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