NDLEA arrests Mexican meth kingpin at Lagos Airport while trying to flee Nigeria
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Mexican methamphetamine kingpin Arturo Carrera Loaiza while attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport and uncovered another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa, disclosed this in Lagos while briefing journalists on the agency’s latest operations.
Marwa said the arrest followed months of investigation into a transnational drug network allegedly linked to clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.
According to him, three Mexicans and seven Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.
On June 17, operatives arrested another Mexican, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, alongside four Nigerian collaborators at a methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Marwa said investigations revealed that Ochoa had been recruited by Loaiza, who entered Nigeria on June 10 with another Mexican, Jose Ceballos Perez. Ochoa subsequently identified Loaiza from a photograph obtained through international intelligence.
Loaiza was eventually tracked and arrested on August 19 while attempting to leave Nigeria through Lagos airport.
The suspect allegedly told investigators that a Nigerian contact known as “Henry” had invited him to Nigeria for a restaurant business venture and denied any involvement in methamphetamine production.
However, investigators reportedly recovered photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing beside equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.
The photographs’ location metadata subsequently led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
Marwa said NDLEA operatives raided the property on August 30 and linked it to John Samuel Ivo Okike. CCTV footage allegedly showed a foreigner matching Loaiza’s image and Okike moving chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property on August 21.
Further intelligence led operatives to a nearby residence where the materials were reportedly kept under the custody of Nwanja Obasi.
A search of the premises allegedly uncovered substantial quantities of chemicals, laboratory equipment and other paraphernalia associated with methamphetamine production.