The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Mexican methamphetamine kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, while he was attempting to leave Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos, following investigations into a transnational drug network operating clandestine laboratories in no fewer than three states in the country.
The agency also dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and recovered hundreds of kilogrammes of chemicals, laboratory equipment and other materials linked to the production of the illicit drug.
The NDLEA Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), disclosed this in Lagos while briefing journalists on the agency’s latest operations.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Tuesday, said the operations followed months of investigation into a transnational drug network linked to clandestine laboratories uncovered in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.
Marwa recalled that the agency arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.
On June 17, another Mexican national, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in a forested part of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Investigations into the Oyo operation, Marwa said, established that Ochoa had been recruited into Nigeria by Loaiza.
He said international collaboration enabled NDLEA investigators to obtain a photograph of Loaiza, which Ochoa positively identified as the person who recruited and brought him into Nigeria.
According to Marwa, intelligence further showed that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
The suspect was subsequently tracked and arrested on August 19 while attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport.
“On August 19, 2026, our operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport,” Marwa said.
He said Loaiza claimed during interrogation that he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact identified only as “Henry”, under the guise of a restaurant business venture.
According to Marwa, Loaiza denied knowledge of methamphetamine manufacturing or involvement with the Tapa village laboratory.
However, investigators recovered images showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.
Marwa said analysis of the location metadata embedded in the images led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
“On 30th August 2026, our operatives moved on the Ebonyi State property, linked to one John Samuel Ivo Okike,” he said.
Interviews with the site engineer and caretaker, according to Marwa, revealed that a suspicious temporary structure had been built over the septic tank area at the rear of the property, while strong chemical odours were repeatedly noticed coming from the premises.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided further evidence, with footage showing a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat matching Loaiza’s image, as well as repeated appearances by Okike.
“Critically, the footage captured, at about 9:00 p.m. on 21st August 2026, the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment out of the property, with John Samuel Ivo Okike seen directing the operation alongside others assisting in the relocation,” Marwa stated.
Further intelligence led NDLEA operatives to an isolated house in a neighbouring community where the relocated materials were being kept under the custody of Nwanja Obasi.
A subsequent raid on the location resulted in the recovery of substantial quantities of chemicals, laboratory equipment and paraphernalia associated with methamphetamine production.
The recovered chemicals included 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 20kg of an 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 a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine, three additional empty dehydrators, condensing units, a condenser head, a condenser, a fabricated reaction pot, an access pump, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners, gloves and a blue laboratory coat.
Marwa said the recovery, combined with CCTV footage, forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, had strengthened the case against those linked to the network.
He warned that Nigeria would not be allowed to become a base for international drug cartels seeking to relocate their operations into the country.
“Let me be unequivocal, 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,” he said.
“The arrest of Arturo Carrera Loaiza and the dismantling of the Ebonyi State facility, coming so soon after the Ogun and Oyo State operations, demonstrate that this Agency’s intelligence and forensic capabilities are more than a match for these syndicates, however sophisticated they may believe themselves to be.”
The NDLEA boss commended operatives of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics, and the Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi State Commands for their roles in the operations.
He vowed that the agency would continue to pursue every lead until the full network, its financiers and local enablers were brought to justice.
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