The National Drug Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Mexican methamphetamine kingpin Arturo Carrera Loaiza while trying to flee Nigeria through Lagos airport and dismantled another industrial-scale methomphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.
NDLEA Chairman and CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa, disclosed this in Lagos while briefing journalists on the latest operation. He said the arrests followed months of investigation into a transnational dr¥g network linked to clandestine laboratories in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.
Marwa said three Mexicans and seven Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a forest hideout in Ogun on May 16, 2026. On June 17, Mexican Jose Villa Ochoa, 56, and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a m+th lab in Tapa village, Ibarapa North LGA of Oyo State.
He said investigations showed that Ochoa was recruited by Loaiza, who entered Nigeria on June 10 with another Mexican, Jose Ceballos Perez. Ochoa identified Loaiza from a photograph obtained internationally.
Loaiza was tracked and arrested on August 19 while trying to leave through Lagos airport. He allegedly claimed a Nigerian contact, “Henry,” invited him for a restaurant business venture and denied involvement in methamphetamine production.
However, investigators recovered images of him in a blue laboratory coat beside equipment consistent with m+th production. Location metadata led them to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
On August 30, operatives raided the property linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike. CCTV reportedly showed a foreigner matching Loaiza’s image and Okike moving chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property on August 21.
Further intelligence led operatives to a nearby house where the materials were kept under Nwanja Obasi. A raid recovered substantial quantities of meth+mphet@mine-related chemicals, laboratory equipment and par+phernalia.