The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered what it described as a transnational methamphetamine network allegedly using Nigerian forests and rural properties as bases for clandestine drug production, with a Mexican kingpin arrested while attempting to leave the country.
The agency said the arrest of Arturo Carrera Loaiza and the seizure of large quantities of chemicals and laboratory equipment in Ebonyi State were the latest breakthroughs in a wider investigation that has already exposed clandestine methamphetamine operations in Ogun and Oyo states.
Briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), represented by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the investigation followed months of intelligence gathering and forensic analysis by the agency’s Special Operations Unit.
According to the NDLEA, investigations began yielding major leads after operatives arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest location in Ogun State on May 16, 2026, followed by the arrest of another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators at a methamphetamine laboratory concealed in a forested area of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, on June 17.
The agency said its investigation into the Oyo operation established that 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, had been recruited into Nigeria by Loaiza, whom investigators subsequently identified as a key figure in the emerging network.
NDLEA said Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez, before he was tracked and arrested on August 19 while attempting to escape through the Lagos airport.
Although Loaiza allegedly claimed during interrogation that he was invited by a Nigerian identified only as “Henry” under the guise of a restaurant business venture, the agency said forensic evidence contradicted his account. Investigators reportedly recovered photographs showing him in a blue laboratory coat at a location containing equipment associated with methamphetamine production.
The agency said location data embedded in the photographs led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State, linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike. A subsequent inspection reportedly uncovered suspicious construction around a septic tank and strong chemical odours at the premises.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property allegedly provided another major breakthrough, with forensic examination reportedly showing Loaiza in the same blue laboratory coat and Okike repeatedly appearing at the location. The footage also allegedly captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property on the night of August 21, with Okike seen directing the operation.
Acting on further intelligence, NDLEA operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community reportedly under the custody of one Nwanja Obasi. The raid yielded methamphetamine-related chemicals, equipment and paraphernalia, including a dehydrator containing loose methamphetamine, additional dehydrators, acetone, toluene, ethanol, hydrochloric acid, P2B, tartaric acid and other laboratory materials.
The agency said the recovery also included condensing equipment, a fabricated reaction pot, pumps, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners and protective materials, including a blue laboratory coat said to match the one associated with the earlier evidence.
Marwa described the operations in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi as evidence of the agency’s growing intelligence and forensic capacity to disrupt sophisticated international drug syndicates seeking to establish production facilities in Nigeria.
“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,” Marwa said.
He vowed that the agency would continue following the trail until financiers, organisers and local collaborators connected to the network were identified and prosecuted, while commending personnel of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi commands for the operations.
The NDLEA also appealed to residents, particularly those in rural and forest communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures that could indicate clandestine drug production, stressing that early intelligence could help prevent Nigeria from becoming a production hub for international drug cartels.
