The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a suspected Mexican drug kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, as he attempted to flee Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The arrest followed months of investigation into a wider transnational drug network linked to clandestine methamphetamine laboratories uncovered in different parts of the country, according to the agency.
Briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), said the agency had dismantled another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State as part of the investigation.
Marwa, represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, recalled that NDLEA operatives had in May arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State.
On June 17, the agency also arrested another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in a forested area of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Investigations into the Oyo operation reportedly established that the 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert arrested at the forest laboratory had been recruited into Nigeria by a Mexican drug kingpin.
Working with international partners, investigators obtained a photograph of the suspected kingpin, which the arrested Mexican national positively identified as the person who recruited and brought him into Nigeria.
The NDLEA said intelligence subsequently showed that the suspected kingpin entered Nigeria on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national.
On August 19, operatives tracked and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza as he attempted to leave the country through Lagos airport.
During interrogation, Carrera reportedly claimed that a Nigerian identified only as “Henry” invited him to Nigeria under the guise of a restaurant business venture and denied any knowledge of methamphetamine production or involvement with the Tapa village laboratory.
However, investigators recovered photographs showing Arturo dressed in a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.
Analysis of the location metadata embedded in the photographs led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
On August 30, NDLEA operatives moved to the property, which was linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike. Interviews with a site engineer and caretaker revealed the presence of a suspicious temporary structure over the septic tank area at the rear of the building, alongside persistent strong chemical odours.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided further evidence, according to the agency.
Forensic analysis of the footage reportedly showed a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat who matched the image of Arturo, as well as repeated appearances by Okike.
The footage also captured, at about 9 p.m. on August 21, the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property, with Okike allegedly directing the operation alongside other persons.
Acting on further intelligence, NDLEA operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community under the custody of Nwanja Obasi.
A raid on the location led to the recovery of a substantial quantity of methamphetamine-related chemicals, equipment and paraphernalia.
Among the items recovered were a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve with loose methamphetamine, three additional empty dehydrators, 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, a 20kg acetone/bromobenzene mixture, 1.7kg of ethanol, 5.1kg of chloride salt, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid, 200kg of P2B and 1kg of tartaric acid.
The agency also recovered condensing units, a condenser head, a condenser, a fabricated reaction pot, an access pump, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners, gloves and a blue laboratory coat matching the one recovered at the John Samuel property.
Marwa said the recovery, combined with CCTV footage, forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, had significantly strengthened the case against persons linked to the network.
He warned that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for international drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories into the country’s forests and rural communities.
“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 added that the arrest of Carrera and the dismantling of the Ebonyi facility, coming after the Ogun and Oyo operations, demonstrated the agency’s intelligence and forensic capabilities.
The NDLEA chairman commended officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their diligence, professionalism and courage.
He also vowed that the agency would continue pursuing every lead until the wider network, including its financiers and local enablers, was brought to justice.
The agency urged Nigerians, particularly residents of rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours or unfamiliar structures to the NDLEA through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or its official email address.
