The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a Mexican drug kingpin while he tried to flee Nigeria through Lagos airport.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said the breakthrough followed months of investigation into a wider network behind clandestine drug laboratories uncovered across the country.
Marwa spoke through the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, during a media briefing in Lagos on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
The NDLEA boss recalled that operatives arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16.
The agency arrested another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators at a methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forested area of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, on June 17.
Investigations by the NDLEA Special Operations Unit linked 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert Jose Villa Ochoa, who was arrested at the Oyo State laboratory, to Mexican kingpin Arturo Carrera Loaiza.
According to the agency, Ochoa identified Loaiza from a photograph as the man who recruited him and brought him into Nigeria. Intelligence also showed that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
NDLEA operatives tracked and arrested Loaiza on August 19 while he attempted to leave Nigeria through Lagos airport.
During interrogation, Loaiza claimed that a Nigerian contact identified only as “Henry” invited him to Nigeria for a restaurant business.
He also denied knowledge of methamphetamine production or links to the Tapa village laboratory.
However, investigators recovered images showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment associated with methamphetamine production.
Analysis of location data from the images led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
NDLEA operatives raided the property on August 30 and linked it to John Samuel Ivo Okike.
Interviews with the site engineer and caretaker revealed a suspicious temporary structure over the septic tank area and strong chemical odours around the premises.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided further evidence.
Forensic analysis showed a foreign national in a blue laboratory coat matching Loaiza’s image, as well as repeated appearances by Okike.
The footage also captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property at about 9pm on August 21, with Okike allegedly directing the operation.
In response, operatives followed intelligence from a confidential source and traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community under the custody of Nwanja Obasi.
A subsequent raid led to the recovery of methamphetamine-related chemicals, laboratory equipment and other paraphernalia.
The recovered items included 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 20kg of an 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.
Operatives also recovered a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve with loose methamphetamine, three empty dehydrators, condensing units, a condenser head, a condenser, a fabricated reaction pot, weighing scales, mixers, drums and gas burners.
The agency recovered a blue laboratory coat matching the one seen in the CCTV footage and images linked to Loaiza.
The NDLEA said the recovery, CCTV footage, forensic findings and eyewitness accounts had strengthened the case against the suspects connected to the network.
Marwa: Nigeria Won’t Become Drug Cartel Haven.
Speaking on the operation, Marwa vowed that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories into forests and rural communities.
He said the arrest of Loaiza and the dismantling of the Ebonyi facility, coming after similar operations in Ogun and Oyo states, showed that the agency’s intelligence and forensic capabilities could match sophisticated drug syndicates.
Marwa commended officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their professionalism and courage.
He vowed that the NDLEA would continue to pursue every lead until it brings the wider network, financiers and local collaborators to justice.
The agency also urged residents, especially those living in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or email, info@ndlea.gov.ng.
