By Saminu Ibrahim
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a Mexican national identified as a suspected drug kingpin while attempting to flee Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
The development was disclosed on Tuesday by the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), during a media briefing in Lagos.
Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the breakthrough followed months of investigation into a wider transnational criminal network allegedly involved in the establishment of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in different parts of the country.
According to him, the latest operation is linked to earlier arrests of Mexican nationals and their Nigerian collaborators in forested locations in Ogun and Oyo states.
“On May 16, 2026, NDLEA operatives arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians at a forest hideout in Ogun State.
A month later, on June 17, another Mexican national, 56-year-old methamphetamine expert Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a clandestine laboratory hidden in a forested part of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Field tests at the Oyo laboratory confirmed the presence of large quantities of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals.
Further investigations by the agency’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) established that Ochoa had allegedly been recruited into Nigeria by a Mexican drug kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza.
Working with international partners, investigators obtained Loaiza’s photograph, which Ochoa positively identified as the man who recruited him and facilitated his movement into Nigeria.
The NDLEA said intelligence subsequently revealed that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
On August 19, operatives arrested Loaiza at the Lagos airport as he attempted to leave the country.
During interrogation, the suspect reportedly claimed that he was invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact identified only as “Henry” under the guise of a restaurant business venture.
He also denied knowledge of methamphetamine production or involvement in the Tapa village laboratory.
However, investigators said evidence recovered during the probe contradicted his claims.
According to the NDLEA, photographs recovered during the investigation showed Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing beside equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.
Analysis of the photographs’ location metadata reportedly led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
The property was linked to one John Samuel Ivo Okike.
When NDLEA operatives raided the property on August 30, they discovered a suspicious temporary structure erected over the septic tank area at the rear of the building, while persons interviewed at the site, including the engineer and caretaker, reported persistent strong chemical odours.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided further evidence, the agency said.
Forensic analysis of the footage allegedly showed a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat matching Loaiza’s appearance, alongside repeated appearances by Okike.
The footage also reportedly captured, at about 9pm on August 21, the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property, with Okike allegedly directing the operation.
Acting on further intelligence, NDLEA operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community reportedly under the custody of one Nwanja Obasi.
A subsequent raid resulted in the recovery of substantial quantities of chemicals, equipment and paraphernalia allegedly connected to methamphetamine production.
The recovered items included a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine, three additional dehydrators, 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, a 20kg acetone/bromobenzene mixture, 1.7kg of ethanol, 5.1kg of chloride salt, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid, 200kg of P2B and 1kg of tartaric acid.
Also recovered were 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 similar to the one seen in the recovered CCTV footage.
The NDLEA said the recovery, combined with CCTV footage, forensic findings and eyewitness accounts, had strengthened the case against persons allegedly linked to the network.
Marwa warned that Nigeria would not be allowed to become a destination for international drug cartels seeking to relocate clandestine laboratories into the country’s forests and rural communities.
“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 the arrest of Loaiza and the dismantling of the Ebonyi facility, coming shortly after the Ogun and Oyo operations, demonstrated the agency’s growing intelligence and forensic capabilities.
Marwa commended personnel of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their professionalism and courage.
He vowed that the agency would continue to pursue every lead until the full network, including its financiers and local collaborators, were brought to justice.
The NDLEA also urged residents, particularly those in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures to the agency.
According to the statement, members of the public can contact the agency through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or via info@ndlea.gov.ng.
