The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested Mexican national Arturo Carrera Loaiza in Lagos and dismantled a suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), represented by Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi, said the arrests followed months of investigation into a wider transnational drug network.
The investigation followed the arrest of three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.
On June 17, operatives arrested another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators at a suspected methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Oyo State.
According to the NDLEA, its investigation linked 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert Jose Villa Ochoa to Loaiza, whom Ochoa identified as his recruiter.
Operatives arrested Loaiza on August 19 while he attempted to leave Nigeria through Lagos airport. Investigators later linked him to a property in Ebonyi State through photographs and CCTV footage.
A raid on a nearby house recovered methamphetamine-related chemicals, laboratory equipment and other materials, including 442.8 kilograms of acetone, 37.1 kilograms of toluene and 31.5 kilograms of hydrochloric acid.
Marwa said the agency would not allow Nigeria to become a base for international drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories.
“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 pledged that the agency would pursue further leads until the wider network, financiers and local enablers were brought to justice local collaborators.
The NDLEA also urged residents to report suspicious activities, chemical odours and unfamiliar structures in rural and forested communities.
