The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Mexican national described as a key figure in a transnational methamphetamine network while he was allegedly attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
The agency also uncovered and dismantled another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State as part of an investigation that has stretched across several states.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa, disclosed the development in Lagos while briefing journalists on the agency’s latest operations.
According to Marwa, the breakthrough followed months of painstaking investigation into an international drug network allegedly operating through clandestine laboratories in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.
He said the operation began with the arrest of three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.
A month later, on June 17, NDLEA operatives arrested 56-year-old Mexican national Jose Villa Ochoa and four Nigerian associates at a methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Investigators subsequently discovered that Ochoa had allegedly been recruited by Arturo Carrera Loaiza, who arrived in Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez. Ochoa was later able to identify Loaiza from an internationally obtained photograph.
With the investigation closing in, NDLEA operatives tracked Loaiza down and arrested him on August 19 as he allegedly attempted to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
During questioning, Loaiza reportedly claimed that a Nigerian contact known only as “Henry” had invited him to Nigeria for a restaurant business venture. He also denied any involvement in the production of methamphetamine.
However, investigators allegedly recovered photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing beside equipment believed to be associated with methamphetamine production.
The photographs provided a major lead. Their location metadata reportedly took investigators to a property under construction in Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
On August 30, NDLEA operatives raided the property, which was linked to a Nigerian identified as John Samuel Ivo Okike.
According to the agency, CCTV footage from the location showed a foreigner resembling Loaiza and Okike allegedly moving chemicals and laboratory equipment away from the property on August 21.
Further intelligence eventually led investigators to a nearby residence where the materials were reportedly stored under the control of Nwanja Obasi.
A subsequent raid uncovered substantial quantities of chemicals believed to be used in methamphetamine production, alongside laboratory equipment and other drug-making paraphernalia.
The NDLEA said the arrests and laboratory seizures represent a significant breakthrough in its efforts to dismantle international drug trafficking networks operating within Nigeria.
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