The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Mexican drug kingpin allegedly behind the recruitment of foreign methamphetamine experts and dismantled another industrial-scale meth laboratory in Ebonyi State.
Key Highlights
- NDLEA arrests Mexican drug kingpin Arturo Carrera Loaiza, 56, at Lagos airport while allegedly attempting to leave Nigeria.
- Loaiza is accused of recruiting Mexican methamphetamine experts to establish clandestine laboratories in Nigeria.
- The agency linked him to a network operating in forests and rural communities across Nigeria.
- NDLEA investigations followed the arrests of Mexican nationals and Nigerian collaborators in Ogun and Oyo states.
- A major methamphetamine laboratory was dismantled in Ebonyi State following evidence allegedly linking Loaiza to the facility.
The suspect, identified as 56-year-old Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested on August 19, 2026, while allegedly attempting to flee Nigeria through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos.
The agency said Loaiza’s arrest follows an investigation into a network of Mexican nationals and their Nigerian collaborators involved in the establishment of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in forests and rural communities.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), disclosed the development while briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday.
Marwa was represented at the briefing by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the agency, investigations began after its operatives arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16.
A month later, on June 17, NDLEA operatives arrested another Mexican national, Jose Villa Ochoa, alongside four Nigerian collaborators at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forested area of Tapa Village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Field tests conducted at the Oyo laboratory reportedly confirmed the presence of large quantities of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals.
The agency said subsequent investigations by its Special Operations Unit established that Ochoa, a Mexican methamphetamine expert has been recruited into Nigeria by Loaiza.
NDLEA investigators, working with international partners, obtained a photograph of Loaiza which Ochoa allegedly identified as the man who recruited him and facilitated his movement into Nigeria.
Intelligence gathered by the agency indicated that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
The agency said Loaiza initially denied any involvement in methamphetamine production when interrogated after his arrest.
He reportedly claimed that a Nigerian identified only as “Henry” invited him to Nigeria for a restaurant business venture.
However, investigators said photographs recovered from Loaiza showed him wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment believed to be associated with methamphetamine production.
The NDLEA said location metadata embedded in the photographs led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
Operatives subsequently raided the property on August 30.
Investigators reportedly discovered that a suspicious temporary structure had been erected over a septic tank at the rear of the building, while persons interviewed at the site, including a caretaker and site engineer, reported persistent chemical odours.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property allegedly provided further evidence linking Loaiza to the location.
According to the NDLEA, forensic analysis of the footage showed a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat on the premises, allegedly matching Loaiza’s photograph.
The footage also reportedly showed repeated appearances by John Samuel Ivo Okike.
The agency said CCTV footage captured at about 9pm on August 21 showed chemicals and laboratory equipment being moved from the property, with Okike allegedly directing the operation.
Acting on intelligence from a confidential source, NDLEA operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community allegedly under the custody of a man identified as Nwanja Obasi.
A subsequent raid reportedly led to the recovery of equipment and chemicals used in methamphetamine production.
The agency listed the recovered items as 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.
Operatives also recovered dehydrators, a condenser, condenser head, fabricated reaction pot, access pump, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners and other laboratory paraphernalia.
A dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve with loose methamphetamine was also reportedly recovered.
The NDLEA said a blue laboratory coat found among the materials matched the coat seen in the photographs and CCTV footage linked to Loaiza.
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Marwa described the operation as evidence that Nigeria would not provide a safe haven for international drug cartels seeking to establish laboratories in 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.
He said the arrest of Loaiza and dismantling of the Ebonyi facility, coming after the operations in Ogun and Oyo states, demonstrated the agency’s intelligence and forensic capabilities.
Marwa vowed that the NDLEA would continue investigating the network until its financiers and local collaborators were identified and brought to justice.
He commended officers of the agency’s Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics, as well as the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their roles in the operations.
The NDLEA also urged residents, particularly those living in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures to the agency.
The agency said reports could be made through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or via email at info@ndlea.gov.ng.
