A Mexican national suspected of being a key figure in a transnational methamphetamine network has been arrested at the Lagos airport as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency uncovered a chain of clandestine laboratories and alleged local collaborators across three states.
The suspect, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested on August 19, 2026, while allegedly attempting to leave Nigeria, according to NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.).
The arrest followed months of investigation into methamphetamine laboratories uncovered in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states, exposing what the agency described as an attempt by international drug syndicates to establish production bases in Nigeria’s forests and rural communities.
Marwa, who spoke in Lagos on Tuesday through the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the breakthrough began with the arrest of a 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert at a forest laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, on June 17.
According to the NDLEA, the suspect identified Loaiza as the Mexican kingpin who recruited and brought him into Nigeria.
Investigators subsequently obtained Loaiza’s photograph through international intelligence cooperation, the agency said.
NDLEA alleged that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national.
He was eventually tracked to Lagos airport and arrested.
During interrogation, Loaiza reportedly claimed that a Nigerian contact known as “Henry” invited him into the country for a restaurant business venture. He also denied involvement in methamphetamine production or the Tapa laboratory.
But the NDLEA said evidence recovered during the investigation pointed in another direction.
Investigators reportedly found photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat beside equipment associated with methamphetamine production.
Location data from the photographs allegedly led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
A subsequent search of the property, linked by the agency to John Samuel Ivo Okike, uncovered CCTV footage that allegedly showed Loaiza at the premises.
The footage also allegedly captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property on August 21, with Okike reportedly seen directing the operation.
Acting on further intelligence, NDLEA operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house allegedly kept by one Nwanja Obasi.
The raid yielded large quantities of chemicals and laboratory equipment, including 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid and 200kg of P2B, among other substances and equipment.
The agency said a dehydrator containing methamphetamine residue and a blue laboratory coat matching one recovered from the Ebonyi property were also found.
Marwa said the operation demonstrated the agency’s growing intelligence and forensic capabilities against international drug syndicates.
“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,” he said.
The NDLEA chairman vowed that the agency would continue investigating the network until its financiers and local collaborators are brought to justice.