The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a large-scale methamphetamine lab in Ebonyi State and apprehended a Mexican drug lord accused of recruiting a meth expert into Nigeria.
The suspect, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was detained on August 19, 2026, while trying to leave Nigeria through Lagos airport.
During a briefing in Lagos on Tuesday, NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.) announced the operation, which stemmed from months of investigation into a drug network linked to clandestine labs found in Ogun and Oyo states.
The probe began after the NDLEA arrested 56-year-old Mexican meth specialist Jose Villa Ochoa and four Nigerians at a covert laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North, Oyo State, on June 17.
Ochoa identified Loaiza as the Mexican national who recruited him and brought him to Nigeria.
Intelligence indicated Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 with another Mexican, Jose Ceballos Perez.
Initially, Loaiza denied knowledge of meth production, claiming he was in Nigeria for restaurant business invited by a Nigerian contact named “Henry.”
However, photos of Loaiza in a blue laboratory coat amid meth lab equipment surfaced.
Location data from these photos led investigators to a site under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi.
A search of the site and CCTV footage showed Loaiza there with Nigerian suspect John Samuel Ivo Okike, and the footage also recorded the movement of chemicals and equipment from August 21.
Further investigation traced the materials to a remote house nearby, where they were seized.
The recovered items included methamphetamine, dehydrators, reaction and condensation tools, and large chemical quantities—442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid, and 200kg of P2B.
Marwa warned Nigeria would not allow itself to become a hub for international drug cartels, stating, “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 operation, following similar ones in Ogun and Oyo, demonstrated the agency’s ability to counter sophisticated drug syndicates.
Marwa praised the efforts of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics, and state commands in Oyo, Ogun, and Ebonyi, vowing ongoing investigations into the network’s financiers and local collaborators.
The NDLEA called on residents in rural and forested areas to report suspicious activities, strange chemical odors, and unfamiliar structures.
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