The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a Mexican drug kingpin who attempted to flee Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
The breakthrough, according to the Agency, followed months of intelligence-led investigation into a wider transnational criminal network allegedly involved in establishing clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Nigeria.
Briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), represented by the Agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the latest operation had further exposed efforts by international drug cartels to establish a foothold in Nigeria’s forests and rural communities.
Marwa recalled that NDLEA operatives had on May 16 arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State. On June 17, another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory concealed in a forested part of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to the Agency, investigation by its Special Operations Unit into the Oyo State operation established that 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, had been recruited into Nigeria by a Mexican national identified as Arturo Carrera Loaiza.
Working with international partners, NDLEA investigators obtained a photograph of Loaiza, which Ochoa positively identified as the man who recruited and brought him into Nigeria. Intelligence also indicated that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
The Agency said operatives subsequently tracked and arrested Loaiza on August 19 while he was attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
During interrogation, Loaiza reportedly claimed he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact identified only as “Henry” under the guise of a restaurant business venture. He also denied knowledge of methamphetamine production or involvement with the laboratory in Tapa village.
Investigators, however, recovered images showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing amid equipment consistent with methamphetamine production. Analysis of location metadata from the images led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
A subsequent operation at the property on August 30 linked the premises to one John Samuel Ivo Okike. Interviews with the site engineer and caretaker reportedly revealed the presence of a suspicious temporary structure over the septic tank area, as well as persistent strong chemical odours from the premises.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided further evidence, according to NDLEA. Forensic examination allegedly showed a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat, identified as Loaiza, as well as repeated appearances by Okike.
The footage also captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property at about 9 p.m. on August 21, 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 one Nwanja Obasi.
A raid on the location led to the recovery of a substantial quantity of chemicals, equipment and other items allegedly connected to methamphetamine production. 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.
NDLEA also recovered a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine, three additional empty dehydrators, 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.
The Agency said the recovery, together with CCTV footage, forensic findings and eyewitness accounts, had strengthened the case against persons allegedly connected to the network.
Marwa warned that Nigeria would not be allowed to become a safe haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories into the country.
He commended officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their diligence and professionalism, while vowing that the Agency would continue to pursue every lead until the wider network, including its financiers and local collaborators, are brought to justice.
The NDLEA also urged residents, particularly those in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures to the Agency through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or email, [email protected].
