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National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) agents arrested six suspects, including two Mexican nationals.
The agency dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine lab in Ebonyi state and intercepted a Mexican drug kingpin attempting to flee Nigeria through Lagos airport.
The breakthrough came after months of investigations into a transnational drug ring that allegedly recruited foreign methamphetamine experts to set up clandestine laboratories in Nigeria’s forests and rural communities.
While briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, the President/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General. Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd), represented by the Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the development demonstrated the agency’s growing capacity to dismantle sophisticated international drug syndicates.
The Mexican kingpin, identified as Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested at Lagos airport on August 19, 2026, while allegedly attempting to leave the country.
His arrest was linked to an earlier operation in Oyo State, where a 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested on June 17 at a clandestine laboratory hidden in a forested area of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area.
NDLEA investigations alleged that Ochoa identified Loaiza as the man who recruited him and brought him to Nigeria. Intelligence also indicated that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 along with another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
After Loaiza’s arrest, investigators allegedly recovered photographs showing him wearing a blue lab coat and standing among equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.
