By Opeyemi Adelakun
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Mexican national identified as a major figure in a transnational methamphetamine network while he was attempting to flee Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
The agency also dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State as part of an investigation that has uncovered suspected links between foreign nationals and Nigerian collaborators.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), disclosed the development in Lagos on Tuesday while briefing journalists on the agency’s latest operations.
According to Marwa, the investigation followed a series of operations targeting clandestine laboratories in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.
The agency had earlier arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest location in Ogun State on May 16.
On June 17, another Mexican national, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Marwa said investigators subsequently established that Ochoa had been recruited into Nigeria by Arturo Carrera Loaiza.
International intelligence cooperation enabled investigators to obtain Loaiza’s photograph, which Ochoa reportedly identified as that of the person who recruited and brought him into Nigeria.
Loaiza was said to have entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
After being tracked for weeks, Loaiza was arrested on August 19 while attempting to leave the country through Lagos airport.
“On August 19, 2026, our operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport,” Marwa said.
During interrogation, Loaiza reportedly claimed he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact known as “Henry” under the guise of a restaurant business venture. He also denied knowledge of methamphetamine production or involvement in the Tapa laboratory.
However, investigators reportedly recovered photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.
Analysis of location data attached to the photographs subsequently led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
Marwa said NDLEA operatives moved on the property on August 30 and found several indications of a suspected clandestine laboratory operation.
Interviews with the site engineer and caretaker reportedly revealed the construction of a suspicious temporary structure over the septic tank area, while strong chemical odours had repeatedly been detected around the property.
Further evidence came from a CCTV memory card recovered at the site.
According to Marwa, the footage showed a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat similar to the one in Loaiza’s photograph, as well as repeated appearances by John Samuel Ivo Okike.
“Critically, the footage captured, at about 9:00 p.m. on 21st August 2026, the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment out of the property, with John Samuel Ivo Okike seen directing the operation alongside others assisting in the relocation,” he stated.
Intelligence subsequently led operatives to an isolated house in a neighbouring community where the relocated materials were reportedly being kept under the custody of Nwanja Obasi.
A raid on the location led to the recovery of large quantities of chemicals, laboratory equipment and other items allegedly linked to methamphetamine production.
The recovered substances 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.
NDLEA also recovered dehydrators, condensing equipment, a fabricated reaction pot, pumps, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners, gloves and a blue laboratory coat.
Marwa said the combination of CCTV footage, forensic findings and eyewitness accounts had strengthened the investigation into those linked to the suspected network.
He warned that Nigeria would not become a base for international drug cartels attempting to establish production facilities in the country.
“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.
Marwa said the arrest of Loaiza and the Ebonyi operation, coming after the earlier Ogun and Oyo operations, demonstrated the agency’s growing intelligence and forensic capacity against transnational drug networks.
He commended the NDLEA Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi State Commands for their roles in the operations.
The NDLEA boss also vowed to continue pursuing the investigation until the wider network, financiers and local enablers were identified and brought to justice.
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