The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled yet another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory and arrested a Mexican drug kingpin who was attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport.
Briefing the media on the latest development in Lagos on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said the breakthrough follows months of painstaking investigation into a wider criminal network behind a string of clandestine drug laboratories uncovered in parts of the country this year.
Marwa who was represented by the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, recalled that operatives had earlier this year arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on Saturday, 16th May 2026, and, on 17th June, arrested another Mexican national alongside four Nigerian collaborators at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forested part of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, where field tests confirmed large quantities of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals.
Investigations by the Agency’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) into the Oyo State arrest led operatives to establish that the 56-year-old Mexican Methamphetamine expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, arrested at the forest lab had been recruited into Nigeria by a Mexican kingpin Arturo Carrera Loaiza.
Working with international partners, NDLEA investigators obtained a photograph of Loaiza, which the arrested suspect positively identified as the man who recruited and moved him into Nigeria.
Intelligence further showed that Loaiza entered Nigeria on 10th June 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
The Agency said in a statement, “On 19th August 2026, our operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport. During interrogation, he claimed he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact, identified only as “Henry,” under the guise of a restaurant business venture, and denied any knowledge of methamphetamine manufacturing or involvement with 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 these images led our operatives to a property undergoing construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
“On 30th August 2026, our operatives moved on the Ebonyi State property, linked to one John Samuel Ivo Okike. Interviews with persons found at the site, including the site engineer and a 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 emanating from the premises.
“A CCTV memory card recovered from the property proved decisive. Forensic review of the footage showed a foreign national in a blue laboratory coat on the premises, matching the image of Arturo Carrera Loaiza earlier recovered, as well as repeated appearances by John Samuel Ivo Okike. Critically, the footage captured, at about 9:00 p.m. on 21st August 2026, the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment out of the property, with John Samuel Ivo Okike seen directing the operation alongside others assisting in the relocation.
“Acting on further 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 this location led to the recovery of a substantial cache of methamphetamine-related chemicals, equipment and paraphernalia, including:
“A dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine, and three additional empty dehydrators; 442.8 kg of Acetone, 37.1 kg of Toluene, a 20 kg mixture of Acetone/Bromobenzene, 1.7 kg of Ethanol, 5.1 kg of Chloride Salt, 31.5 kg of Hydrochloric acid, 200 kg of P2B, and 1 kg of Tartaric acid; Condensing units, a condenser head, a condenser, and a fabricated reaction pot. Additional equipment including an access pump, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners, gloves, and a blue laboratory coat matching the one recovered at the John Samuel property.
