By JKNewsMedia
THE NATIONAL Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Mexican, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, a methamphetamine expert accused of recruiting foreign nationals into Nigeria’s clandestine drug manufacturing network, following an investigation that uncovered a laboratory operation in Ebonyi State.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that the agency said it nabbed the Mexican national on 19 August 2026 while he attempted to flee Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
Loaiza’s arrest followed months of investigations into a criminal network linked to clandestine methamphetamine laboratories uncovered in Ogun and Oyo states earlier this year.
Briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, 15 September 2026, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said the latest operation demonstrated the agency’s determination to prevent transnational drug cartels from establishing laboratories in Nigeria.
Marwa, represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, recalled that operatives arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on 16 May 2026.
On 17 June, officers arrested another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in a forested part of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Also, field tests at the Oyo facility also confirmed the presence of large quantities of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals.
Investigations by the NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit into the Oyo operation identified Loaiza as the alleged recruiter of 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert Jose Villa Ochoa, who was arrested at the forest laboratory.
The agency said international cooperation enabled investigators to obtain Loaiza’s photograph, which Ochoa positively identified as that of the man who recruited him and brought him into Nigeria.
Intelligence also indicated that Loaiza entered Nigeria on 10 June 2026 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
Following his arrest at the Lagos airport, Loaiza reportedly told investigators that a Nigerian contact identified only as Henry had invited him to Nigeria for a restaurant business venture.
He denied knowing anything about methamphetamine manufacturing or having any involvement with the Tapa village laboratory.
However, investigators recovered photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment consistent with methamphetamine production, the agency said.
Analysis of location metadata embedded in the photographs led operatives to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
On 30 August, NDLEA operatives raided the property, which the agency linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike.
Interviews with people at the site, including the site engineer and a caretaker, revealed the construction of a suspicious temporary structure over the septic tank area behind the building, alongside reports of persistent, strong chemical odours.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided further evidence, according to the agency.
Forensic examination of the footage showed a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat who matched Loaiza’s previously recovered photograph.
The footage also showed repeated appearances by Okike.
Investigators said the recordings captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property at about 9pm on 21 August, with Okike allegedly directing the operation alongside other people assisting in the relocation.
Acting on further intelligence from a confidential source, operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community, where they were reportedly kept under the custody of Nwanja Obasi.
A raid on the property led to the recovery of methamphetamine-related chemicals, laboratory equipment and other materials, including a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine and three additional empty dehydrators.
The agency listed the recovered chemicals as 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 20kg of an acetone and bromobenzene mixture, 1.7kg of ethanol, 5.1kg of chloride salt, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid, 200kg of P2B and 1kg of tartaric acid.
NAFDAC operatives also said it recovered condensing units, a condenser head, a condenser, a fabricated reaction pot, an access pump, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners, gloves and a blue laboratory coat matching the one recovered at the property linked to Okike.
The NDLEA said the recovery, combined with CCTV footage, forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, had significantly strengthened its case against those connected to the network.
Marwa warned that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for international drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories into the country’s 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,” he said.
He commended officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their diligence, professionalism and courage during the operations.
Marwa vowed that the agency would pursue every lead until investigators bring the full network, its financiers and local enablers to justice.
The NDLEA also urged Nigerians, particularly residents of rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures and urged them to contact the agency through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or email: info@ndlea.gov.ng.
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