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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a Mexican drug kingpin, identified as Arturo Carrera Loaiza.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed this while briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday.
Marwa, represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the operation followed months of investigation into a wider transnational drug network operating in Nigeria.
The investigation, according to the agency, began after the arrest of Mexican and Nigerian nationals linked to clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Ogun and Oyo states.
On May 16, 2026, NDLEA operatives arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians at a forest hideout in Ogun State. A month later, another Mexican national and four Nigerians were arrested at a methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The agency said a 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, arrested during the Oyo operation, identified Loaiza as the person who recruited him to Nigeria.
Babafemi said Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 with another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
“On 19th August 2026, our operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport,” Babafemi said.
According to the NDLEA, Loaiza claimed he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian identified as Henry for a restaurant business venture and denied any knowledge of methamphetamine production.
Investigators, however, allegedly recovered photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat beside equipment linked to methamphetamine production.
The agency said location data from the photographs led investigators to a property under construction in Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
During a subsequent operation, NDLEA operatives reportedly found evidence linking the property to the suspected laboratory. CCTV footage reportedly showed Loaiza at the location and John Samuel Ivo Okike overseeing the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment.
The agency said further intelligence led operatives to another property in a neighbouring community, where they recovered methamphetamine, precursor chemicals, laboratory equipment and other materials.
The recovered substances included 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid and 200kg of P2B, alongside other chemicals and equipment.
Marwa said the operation demonstrated the agency’s growing intelligence and forensic capabilities.
“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 NDLEA said investigations into the wider network were ongoing, with efforts focused on identifying its financiers and local collaborators.
The agency also urged residents of rural and forest communities to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures to the authorities.
