The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Mexican national, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, described as a methamphetamine kingpin, while attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
The agency also dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State as part of an investigation into a transnational drug network operating across several states.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), disclosed the development in Lagos on Tuesday, saying the operation followed months of intelligence gathering linked to clandestine laboratories uncovered in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.
Marwa said the agency had earlier arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest location in Ogun State in May 2026. In June, another Mexican national, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerians were arrested at a methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Oyo State.
Investigations reportedly established that Ochoa had been recruited into Nigeria by Loaiza. Intelligence later showed that Loaiza entered the country on June 10 alongside another Mexican, Jose Ceballos Perez, before being tracked and arrested at the Lagos airport on August 19 while attempting to flee Nigeria.
Although Loaiza allegedly denied involvement in methamphetamine production, investigators recovered photographs showing him wearing a blue laboratory coat in an environment containing equipment associated with drug production.
The photographs’ location data reportedly led investigators to a property in Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State. CCTV footage recovered from the premises allegedly showed a foreign national resembling Loaiza and Nigerian suspect John Samuel Ivo Okike moving chemicals and laboratory equipment from the site.
Marwa said the evidence gathered had strengthened the case against members of the network and warned that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for international drug cartels. He also commended the NDLEA units and state commands involved in the operation.
