By Omoyeni Ojeifo
In a fresh operation exposing the desperation of transnational methamphetamine cartels to infiltrate Nigeria’s forests and rural communities, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested a Mexican drug kingpin attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport.
The operation also led to the dismantling of another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State, following months of painstaking investigation into a wider criminal network behind clandestine drug laboratories uncovered in parts of the country.
At a media briefing in Lagos on Tuesday, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, said the breakthrough followed months of investigation into the wider network.
Marwa, represented by the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, linked the latest development two earlier operations in Ogun and Oyo states, where operatives intercepted foreign nationals and their Nigerian collaborators in suspected methamphetamine production networks.
PersecondNews recalls that in Ogun State, three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a forest hideout on May 16, 2026, while another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators were apprehended on June 17 at a clandestine laboratory hidden in a forested part of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
At the Oyo laboratory, field tests confirmed large quantities of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals, leading investigators from the Agency’s Special Operations Unit to trace the activities of 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert Jose Villa Ochoa.
Working with international partners, who provided a photograph of Loaiza, investigators found out that Ochoa had been recruited into Nigeria by Mexican drug kingpin Arturo Carrera Loaiza.
According to the agency, Ochoa positively identified Loaiza as the man who recruited him and moved him into Nigeria, while intelligence further showed that Loaiza entered the country on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
The NDLEA noted that On August 19, 2026, operatives tracked Loaiza to Lagos and arrested him as he attempted to flee the country through the airport.
During interrogation, Loaiza claimed he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact identified only as “Henry,” under the guise of a restaurant business venture, while denying knowledge of methamphetamine manufacturing or involvement with the Tapa village laboratory.
However, investigators recovered images of Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment consistent with methamphetamine production, with location metadata from the photographs leading them to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
“The property was linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike, prompting operatives to move on the location on August 30, 2026, where they interviewed people at the site, including the site engineer and a caretaker,” the agency noted.
Their inquiries drew attention to a suspicious temporary structure erected over the septic tank area at the rear of the building, alongside persistent strong chemical odours emanating from the premises.
“A CCTV memory card recovered from the property proved decisive, with forensic review showing a foreign national in a blue laboratory coat matching the image of Loaiza, as well as repeated appearances by Okike,” it added.
The footage also captured, at about 9 p.m. on August 21, 2026, the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment out of the property, with Okike seen directing the operation alongside others assisting with the relocation.
Acting on further intelligence from a confidential source, NDLEA operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community under the custody of Nwanja Obasi.
“A raid on the location led to the recovery of a substantial cache of methamphetamine-related chemicals, equipment and paraphernalia, including a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine and three additional empty dehydrators,” he said.
“The substances recovered included 442.8kg of Acetone, 37.1kg of Toluene, a 20kg mixture of Acetone/Bromobenzene, 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 condensing units, a condenser head, a condenser and a fabricated reaction pot, alongside an access pump, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners and gloves.
A blue laboratory coat matching the one recovered at the John Samuel property was also among the items seized during the operation.
NDLEA said the recovery, together with the CCTV evidence, other forensic findings and eyewitness accounts, had significantly strengthened the case against persons connected to the suspected network.
Speaking through the Director Media and Advocacy, Marwa warned that Nigeria would not be allowed to become a safe haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories from other jurisdictions into the country’s forests and rural communities.
“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.”
The arrest of Arturo Carrera Loaiza and the dismantling of the Ebonyi State facility, coming so soon after the Ogun and Oyo State operations, demonstrate that this Agency’s intelligence and forensic capabilities are more than a match for these syndicates, however sophisticated they may believe themselves to be,” he stated.
Marwa hailed officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their diligence, professionalism and courage in the three operations.
He vowed that the Agency would continue pursuing every lead until the full network, its financiers and local enablers were brought to justice.
The Agency renewed its call on Nigerians, particularly those living in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours or unfamiliar structures that could indicate illicit drug production.
The NDLEA enjoined members of the public to report such activities through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or by email at info@ndlea.gov.ng.
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