ABAKILIKI: The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a 56-year-old Mexican national it described as a key figure in a transnational drug network.
The arrest of the alleged drug kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, reportedly took place at the Lagos airport on August 19, 2026, as he was allegedly attempting to leave Nigeria.
The NDLEA said the operation was the result of months of investigation into a suspected network involved in establishing clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in forests and rural communities across Nigeria.
Briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), said investigations had uncovered attempts by transnational drug syndicates to establish methamphetamine production facilities in Nigeria.
Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, recalled that NDLEA operatives arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.
A month later, on June 17, another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a suspected clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in the forested Tapa village area of Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to the agency, field tests conducted at the Oyo location confirmed the presence of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals.
The NDLEA said further investigation by its Special Operations Unit revealed that Jose Villa Ochoa, the 56-year-old Mexican national arrested in connection with the Oyo operation, identified Arturo Carrera Loaiza as the person who allegedly recruited him into Nigeria.
The agency said it worked with international partners to obtain a photograph of Loaiza, which Ochoa allegedly identified as that of his recruiter.
Investigators reportedly established that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
When Loaiza was arrested at the Lagos airport on August 19, the NDLEA said he claimed he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact identified only as “Henry” for a restaurant business venture.
He also reportedly denied knowledge of methamphetamine production or involvement with the suspected laboratory in Tapa.
However, the agency said further investigations produced evidence that allegedly connected him to methamphetamine production.
The NDLEA said investigators recovered photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing beside equipment it said was consistent with methamphetamine production.
Analysis of the location data embedded in the photographs reportedly led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
NDLEA operatives visited the Ebonyi property on August 30 and linked the site to a man identified as John Samuel Ivo Okike.
The agency said interviews with individuals at the property, including a site engineer and caretaker, revealed the presence of a suspicious temporary structure erected around the septic tank area behind the building.
The witnesses also reportedly told investigators that strong chemical odours had been coming from the premises.
The NDLEA said a CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided additional evidence.
According to the agency, forensic analysis of the footage showed a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat who allegedly matched Loaiza’s previously recovered photograph. The footage also reportedly showed repeated appearances by Okike.
Investigators further alleged that the CCTV recordings captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property at about 9pm on August 21.
The NDLEA said Okike was allegedly seen directing the movement of the materials with the assistance of other individuals.
Following intelligence from a confidential source, NDLEA operatives reportedly traced the materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community, where they were allegedly being kept by another individual.
A subsequent raid led to the recovery of chemicals, laboratory equipment and other materials the agency linked to suspected methamphetamine production.
Among the items recovered, according to the NDLEA, was a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve with loose methamphetamine, as well as three additional empty dehydrators.
The agency also listed:
- 442.8kg of acetone
- 37.1kg of toluene
- 20kg of a mixture of acetone and bromobenzene
- 1.7kg of ethanol
- 5.1kg of chloride salt
- 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid
- 200kg of P2B
- 1kg of tartaric acid
Other recovered items reportedly included 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.
The agency said the coat matched the one seen in connection with the property linked to Okike.
According to the NDLEA, the recovered materials, CCTV footage, forensic analysis and witness accounts have strengthened its investigation into the suspected drug network.
Marwa warned that Nigeria would not allow international drug syndicates to establish production facilities in the country.
He said the arrest of Loaiza and the dismantling of the suspected Ebonyi facility, coming after similar operations in Ogun and Oyo states, demonstrated the agency’s growing intelligence and forensic capabilities.
The NDLEA chairman commended officers from the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force and Forensics teams, as well as personnel of the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands, for their roles in the operations.
He said the agency would continue investigating the network, including suspected financiers and local individuals allegedly assisting the syndicates.
The NDLEA also urged residents of rural and forested communities to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures that could indicate clandestine drug production.
