T he National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Mexican drug kingpin allegedly linked to a transnational methamphetamine cartel and dismantled another industrial-scale laboratory in Ebonyi State.
The suspect, identified as Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested on August 19, 2026, while attempting to flee Nigeria through the Lagos airport, the agency disclosed on Tuesday.
The NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), who spoke through the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, at a media briefing in Lagos, said the arrest followed months of painstaking investigations into a wider criminal network behind several clandestine drug laboratories uncovered in the country.
Marwa warned that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their operations to the country’s forests and rural communities.
He said, “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.”
The NDLEA chairman said earlier investigations by its Special Operations Unit into the arrest of a Mexican methamphetamine expert, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, at a forest laboratory in Oyo State, led to the identification of Loaiza as the alleged recruiter of foreign experts into Nigeria.
Ochoa and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested on June 17, 2026, at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in the forested Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to him, Ochoa positively identified Loaiza from a photograph obtained by investigators working with international partners.
Intelligence reportedly showed that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
He said Loaiza, during interrogation, claimed he had been invited into the country by a Nigerian contact identified only as “Henry” under the guise of a restaurant business venture.
He reportedly denied knowledge of methamphetamine production or involvement in the Oyo laboratory.
However, investigators allegedly recovered photographs showing him wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing amid equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.
The agency said analysis of location metadata from the images led operatives to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
A raid on the property on August 30 reportedly linked it to John Samuel Ivo Okike.
Interviews with a site engineer and a caretaker allegedly revealed a suspicious temporary structure erected over a septic tank at the rear of the building, as well as persistent chemical odours.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the premises reportedly showed Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and Okike appearing repeatedly at the property.
The footage allegedly captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the premises at about 9 p.m. on August 21, with Okike reportedly directing the operation.
Acting on further intelligence, NDLEA operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community, where they were allegedly kept by one Nwanja Obasi.
The subsequent raid led to the recovery of a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine, three empty dehydrators, large quantities of chemicals and laboratory equipment.
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 condensing units, a condenser head, a fabricated reaction pot, pumps, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners, gloves and a blue laboratory coat.
The Agency’s Chairman said the recovery, CCTV footage, forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts had significantly strengthened the case against those connected to the alleged network.
The latest operation followed the arrest of three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.
Marwa commended officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their diligence and professionalism.
He vowed that the agency would continue pursuing every lead until the alleged network, its financiers and local enablers were brought to justice.
General Marwa urged residents of rural and forested communities to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or email, [email protected] .
Credit to our Media Partner DailyTrust .
