NDLEA Nabs Mexican Kingpin, Busts Ebonyi Meth Lab

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has dismantled another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a suspected Mexican drug kingpin who was trying to flee the country through Lagos airport, in the latest blow against transnational cartels seeking to establish production bases in Nigeria’s forests and rural communities.

Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, announced the breakthrough during a media briefing in Lagos on Tuesday. Represented by Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi, Marwa said the operation followed months of detailed investigation into a wider network linked to earlier clandestine laboratories uncovered this year.

The trail began with the May 16 arrest of three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State. On June 17, operatives raided a hidden laboratory in a forested area of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, arresting 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert Jose Villa Ochoa and four Nigerian associates. Field tests confirmed large quantities of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals at the site.

Investigators established that Ochoa had been recruited and brought into Nigeria by Arturo Carrera Loaiza. Working with international partners, the agency obtained a photograph of Loaiza, which Ochoa positively identified as his recruiter. Intelligence showed Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.

On August 19, NDLEA operatives arrested Loaiza at Lagos airport as he attempted to leave the country. During interrogation, he claimed a Nigerian contact known only as “Henry” had invited him for a restaurant business venture and denied any knowledge of methamphetamine production or the Tapa laboratory.

Evidence told a different story. Investigators recovered photographs of Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat amid equipment consistent with methamphetamine production. Location metadata embedded in the images led operatives to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State, linked to one John Samuel Ivo Okike.

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A raid on August 30 revealed a suspicious temporary structure erected over the septic tank area at the rear of the building and persistent strong chemical odours. A recovered CCTV memory card proved crucial. Forensic analysis showed a foreign national in a blue laboratory coat matching Loaiza’s image, along with repeated appearances by Okike. Footage from about 9 p.m. on August 21 captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property, with Okike directing the operation.

Acting on further intelligence from a confidential source, operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community under the custody of one Nwanja Obasi. The subsequent raid recovered a substantial cache of methamphetamine-related chemicals, equipment and paraphernalia. Items included a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine, three additional empty dehydrators, 442.8 kg of acetone, 37.1 kg of toluene, a 20 kg mixture of acetone and bromobenzene, 1.7 kg of ethanol, 5.1 kg of chloride salt, 31.5 kg of hydrochloric acid, 200 kg of P2B, 1 kg of tartaric acid, 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 matching the one seen at the Okike property.

Marwa said the combined CCTV, forensic and eyewitness evidence has significantly strengthened the case against all persons connected to the network. He warned that Nigeria will not become a safe haven for transnational drug cartels relocating their laboratories into the country’s forests and rural areas.

“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. The arrest of Arturo Carrera Loaiza and the dismantling of the Ebonyi State facility, coming so soon after the Ogun and Oyo State operations, demonstrate that this Agency’s intelligence and forensic capabilities are more than a match for these syndicates, however sophisticated they may believe themselves to be,” he stated.

Marwa commended officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics Directorate and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their diligence, professionalism and courage. He vowed that the agency would continue pursuing every lead until the full network, its financiers and local enablers are brought to justice.

The NDLEA renewed its appeal to Nigerians, especially those in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activity, unusual chemical odours or unfamiliar structures through the agency’s toll-free line, 0800 1020 3040, or by email at info@ndlea.gov.ng.

The latest operation underscores a pattern of Mexican specialists collaborating with local networks to establish industrial methamphetamine production sites in remote areas, a trend the agency has been systematically disrupting through intelligence-led raids throughout 2026.