By Gabriel Ameh
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Mexican national identified as Arturo Carrera Loaiza while attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport and dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.
The development, disclosed by NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), followed months of investigation into a wider network linked to clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.
Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, briefed journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
According to the NDLEA, the investigation began with earlier operations in Ogun and Oyo states.
On May 16, operatives arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State.
On June 17, another Mexican national, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, was arrested alongside four Nigerian collaborators at a clandestine laboratory in a forested area of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The agency said investigations into the Oyo operation linked Ochoa to Loaiza, whom he allegedly identified as the person who recruited and brought him into Nigeria.
NDLEA said international intelligence cooperation subsequently helped investigators obtain a photograph of Loaiza.
Intelligence indicated that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
On August 19, NDLEA operatives arrested Loaiza while he was allegedly attempting to flee Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
The agency said Loaiza claimed during interrogation that he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact known only as “Henry” for a restaurant business venture and denied involvement in methamphetamine production.
Investigators, however, recovered photographs allegedly showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment believed to be connected to 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.
On August 30, operatives moved into the property, which the agency linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike.
Interviews with people at the site, including a site engineer and caretaker, reportedly revealed a temporary structure constructed around the septic tank area and persistent chemical odours coming from the premises.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided further evidence, according to the agency.
The NDLEA said forensic examination of the footage showed a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat who matched Loaiza’s photograph, alongside repeated appearances by Okike.
The footage allegedly captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property 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.
A raid on the location led to the recovery of methamphetamine-related substances, laboratory equipment and other items, including a dehydrator containing loose methamphetamine, additional dehydrators, chemicals, condensing equipment, reaction equipment, weighing scales, mixers and other laboratory paraphernalia.
The agency said CCTV footage, forensic findings and eyewitness accounts had strengthened its case against individuals allegedly connected to the network.
Marwa warned that Nigeria would not be allowed to become a base for transnational drug cartels seeking to establish clandestine laboratories in the country’s forests and rural communities.
He commended personnel of the NDLEA Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi State Commands for their roles in the operations.
The NDLEA said investigations would continue as the agency works to identify and apprehend other members, financiers and local collaborators allegedly connected to the network.
The agency also urged residents, particularly those in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures that may be linked to illicit drug production.
