NDLEA SMASHES ANOTHER INDUSTRIAL METH LAB, ARRESTS FLEEING MEXICAN KINGSHIP, SAYS NO HIDING PLACE FOR TRANSNATIONAL DRUG CARTELS IN NIGERIA- MARWA VOWS

By Olayiwola Ibrahim // The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has uncovered another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory and arrested a Mexican kingpin who was attempting to flee the country through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Addressing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said the operation was the result of months of painstaking investigation into a wider criminal network behind the clandestine drug labs discovered across the country this year.

Marwa, who was represented by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, recalled that operatives had on Saturday, May 16, 2026, arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State, and on June 17, arrested another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators at a secret meth lab hidden in a forest in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, where large quantities of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals were recovered.

He said investigations by the Agency’s Special Operations Unit, SOU, into the Oyo arrest revealed that the 56-year-old Mexican meth expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, arrested at the forest lab, was recruited into Nigeria by a Mexican kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza.

Working with international partners, NDLEA investigators obtained a photograph of Loaiza, which Ochoa positively identified as the man who recruited and brought him into Nigeria. Intelligence further showed that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.

According to the Agency, “On August 19, 2026, our operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza while attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport.

During interrogation, he claimed he was invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact identified only as ‘Henry’ for a restaurant business venture, and denied any knowledge of methamphetamine production or link to the Tapa village laboratory.

However, our findings told a different story. Investigators recovered images of Arturo dressed in a blue laboratory coat, standing amid equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.

Analysis of the location metadata embedded in the images led operatives to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.

On August 30, 2026, operatives raided the Ebonyi property linked to one John Samuel Ivo Okike.

Interviews with persons found at the site, including the site engineer and caretaker, revealed the erection of a suspicious temporary structure over the septic tank area at the rear of the building, and persistent strong chemical odours.

A CCTV memory card recovered from the property proved decisive.

Forensic review of the footage showed a foreign national in a blue laboratory coat matching the image of Arturo Carrera Loaiza, as well as repeated appearances by John Samuel Ivo Okike.

Critically, the footage captured at about 9:00 p.m. on August 21, 2026, the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment out of the property, with Okike seen directing the operation.

Acting on intelligence from a confidential source, operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community, kept under the custody of one Nwanja Obasi.

A raid on the location led to the recovery of a substantial cache of meth-related chemicals, equipment and paraphernalia.

Items recovered include a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine, three additional empty dehydrators; 442.8kg of Acetone, 37.1kg of Toluene, 20kg mixture of Acetone/Bromobenzene, 1.7kg of Ethanol, 5.1kg of Chloride Salt, 31.5kg of Hydrochloric Acid, 200kg of P2B, and 1kg of Tartaric Acid; condensing units, condenser head, condenser, fabricated reaction pot, access pump, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners, gloves, and a blue laboratory coat matching the one found at Okike’s property.

Marwa said the recovery, alongside CCTV evidence, forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, has significantly strengthened the case against all persons connected to the network.

Speaking on the Agency’s capacity to root out transnational cartels, Marwa warned that Nigeria will never become a safe haven for drug barons.

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 facility, coming so soon after the Ogun and Oyo 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.

He commended officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi State Commands for their diligence and courage, vowing that the Agency will continue to pursue every lead until the full network, its financiers and local enablers are brought to justice.

The Agency urged Nigerians, especially those in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours or unfamiliar structures to the NDLEA via its toll-free line 080010203040 or email info@ndlea.gov.ng.