The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Mexican drug kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, while attempting to flee Nigeria through the Lagos airport, following the dismantling of another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.
The NDLEA said the arrest and discovery of the laboratory were part of a wider investigation into a transnational drug network suspected of establishing clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Nigerian forests and rural communities.
Briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), represented by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi, said the investigation followed a series of laboratory discoveries in Ogun and Oyo states.
Marwa said the agency had earlier arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.
He added that on June 17, another Mexican national, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, was arrested alongside four Nigerian collaborators at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in the Tapa area of Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to him, investigations by the NDLEA Special Operations Unit established that Ochoa had been recruited into Nigeria by Loaiza, a Mexican methamphetamine kingpin.
He said international intelligence gathering enabled investigators to obtain Loaiza’s photograph, which Ochoa positively identified as that of the man who recruited and brought him into Nigeria.
The NDLEA further established that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
Marwa said Loaiza was subsequently tracked and arrested on Aug. 19 while attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
During interrogation, the suspect allegedly claimed he was invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact identified as “Henry” for a restaurant business venture and denied involvement in methamphetamine production.
However, investigators uncovered photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment suspected to be used for methamphetamine production.
Analysis of the photographs’ location metadata reportedly led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
The NDLEA said a search of the property on Aug. 30, linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike, revealed a suspicious temporary structure erected over a septic tank area, while witnesses reported persistent chemical odours from the premises.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided further evidence, according to the agency.
Forensic analysis of the footage allegedly showed Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat at the premises, while Okike was also repeatedly seen there.
The footage reportedly captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property at about 9 p.m. on Aug. 21, with Okike allegedly directing the operation.
Following further intelligence, NDLEA operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community allegedly controlled by one Nwanja Obasi.
The agency said the raid on the location led to the recovery of large quantities of chemicals and equipment linked to methamphetamine production.
The recovered items included 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, a 20kg acetone/bromobenzene mixture, 1.7kg of ethanol, 5.1kg of chloride salt, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid, 200kg of P2B and 1kg of tartaric acid.
Other items recovered included dehydrators, a condenser, condensing units, a fabricated reaction pot, access pump, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners and other laboratory paraphernalia.
The agency also recovered a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine, as well as a blue laboratory coat allegedly matching the one seen in the CCTV footage.
Marwa said the recovery, combined with CCTV footage, forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, had strengthened the case against those connected with the network.
He warned that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for international drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories into the country’s forests and rural communities.
“Nigeria will not be allowed to become a haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories from other jurisdictions into our forests and rural communities,” Marwa said.
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He described the arrest of Loaiza and the dismantling of the Ebonyi facility, coming after the Ogun and Oyo operations, as evidence of the NDLEA’s growing intelligence and forensic capabilities.
Marwa commended personnel of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi commands for their professionalism and courage.
He vowed that the agency would continue to pursue every lead until the wider network, including its financiers and local collaborators, was brought to justice.
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