Attah Ede and Fidelia Soriwei
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Mexican national, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, and dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State as part of a major crackdown on an international drug trafficking network operating in Nigeria.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), disclosed the development in Lagos on Tuesday while briefing journalists on recent anti-narcotics operations carried out across multiple states.
Marwa said the arrest followed months of investigations into a transnational methamphetamine production network linked to clandestine drug laboratories previously uncovered in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.
According to him, intelligence gathered during earlier operations revealed that Loaiza played a key role in recruiting foreign nationals involved in illegal methamphetamine production in Nigeria.
The NDLEA boss recalled that the agency arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators in Ogun State on May 16, 2026, while another Mexican citizen, Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerians were arrested at a secret methamphetamine laboratory in Oyo State on June 17.
Investigations into the Oyo operation, he said, established that Ochoa was brought into Nigeria by Loaiza, while international collaboration helped investigators obtain a photograph that was positively identified by the suspect.
Marwa disclosed that intelligence further showed Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez, before he was tracked and arrested on August 19 while attempting to leave the country through the Lagos airport.
“On August 19, 2026, our operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport.”
He said Loaiza denied involvement in methamphetamine production and claimed he had travelled to Nigeria for a restaurant business venture arranged by a contact identified as “Henry.”
However, investigators later recovered photographs allegedly showing him wearing a laboratory coat and standing among equipment associated with methamphetamine manufacturing. Analysis of the images led operatives to a property under construction in Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
Marwa said a raid on the property uncovered evidence linking it to illegal drug production, while CCTV footage and witness accounts pointed to efforts to move chemicals and laboratory equipment from the location. Further intelligence subsequently led operatives to another property where the relocated materials were recovered.
The agency said the operation yielded large quantities of chemicals commonly used in methamphetamine production, including acetone, toluene, hydrochloric acid, P2B and other substances. Investigators also recovered laboratory equipment, weighing scales, mixers, condensers, gas burners, protective gear and traces of methamphetamine.
Marwa said forensic findings, CCTV footage, recovered exhibits and eyewitness testimonies had strengthened the case against those connected to the network, adding that investigations were continuing to identify additional suspects and collaborators.
“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.”
The NDLEA boss commended officers involved in the operations across Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states and vowed that the agency would continue pursuing every lead until all members, financiers and local collaborators linked to the drug network are brought to justice.
