The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested another suspected Mexican drug kingpin and dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.
The suspect, identified as Mexican national, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested while allegedly attempting to flee Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing journalists in Lagos.
Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the operation followed months of investigation into a transnational drug syndicate linked to a series of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories uncovered across the country.
He recalled that the NDLEA operatives had earlier arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.
The agency also arrested another Mexican national and four Nigerians on June 17 at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in a forest area in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to Marwa, investigations by the agency’s Special Operations Unit revealed that a 56-year-old Mexican, Jose Villa Ochoa, who was arrested at the Oyo forest laboratory, had allegedly been recruited into Nigeria by Loaiza.
He said international collaboration enabled investigators to obtain a photograph of Loaiza, which Ochoa allegedly identified as the man who recruited and brought him into Nigeria.
Marwa added that intelligence indicated that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
He said, “On August 19, 2026, our operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza while attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport.
“During interrogation, he claimed that he came to Nigeria for a restaurant business and denied involvement in methamphetamine production.
“However, investigators recovered photographs showing him wearing a laboratory coat and standing among equipment used for methamphetamine production.”
He said analysis of metadata from the photographs led investigators to a property under construction in Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
According to him, a raid on the property on August 30 uncovered suspicious structures, chemical odours and other evidence suggesting illegal drug production.
He added that forensic examination of CCTV footage recovered from the property allegedly showed Loaiza and a Nigerian suspect, John Samuel Ivo Okike, moving chemicals and laboratory equipment from the premises.
Marwa said further intelligence led operatives to another house, where additional chemicals and equipment allegedly used in methamphetamine production were recovered.
The items recovered included acetone, toluene, hydrochloric acid, ethanol, P2B, tartaric acid, condensing units, fabricated reaction pots, weighing scales, gas burners and a laboratory coat allegedly linked to the suspects.
He said evidence obtained from CCTV footage, forensic analysis and witness accounts had strengthened the case against those allegedly connected to the network.
Marwa warned that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for transnational drug cartels.
“Nigeria will not be allowed to become a haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories into our forests and rural communities.
“The arrest of Arturo Carrera Loaiza and the dismantling of the Ebonyi facility, coming after similar operations in Ogun and Oyo states, demonstrate that the agency’s intelligence and forensic capabilities are more than a match for these syndicates,” he stated.
Marwa commended officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics Department and the Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi State Commands for their roles in the operations.
He added that investigations would continue to apprehend other members, financiers and collaborators allegedly linked to the syndicate.
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