NDLEA arrests Mexican drug kingpin, dismantles meth lab in Ebonyi
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Mexican drug kingpin attempting to flee Nigeria through the Lagos airport and dismantled another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed this on Tuesday in Lagos while briefing journalists on the agency’s latest operations. Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the breakthrough followed months of investigation into a wider network behind clandestine drug laboratories uncovered in parts of the country.
He recalled that NDLEA operatives arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026. On June 17, another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in a forested area of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to Marwa, investigations into the Oyo operation established that 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert, Jose Villa Ochoa, who was arrested at the laboratory, had been recruited to Nigeria by Mexican national, Arturo Carrera Loaiza. With assistance from international partners, investigators obtained a photograph of Loaiza, which Ochoa identified as that of the man who recruited him and brought him into Nigeria.
Marwa said operatives subsequently arrested Loaiza at the Lagos airport on August 19 while he was attempting to leave the country. Although he denied involvement in methamphetamine production and claimed he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian identified only as Henry for a restaurant business, investigators recovered images showing him in a blue laboratory coat at a location containing equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.
He said analysis of location data from the images led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State. A raid on the property on August 30, linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike, uncovered evidence of a suspicious temporary structure near a septic tank, strong chemical odours and CCTV footage showing Loaiza and Okike at the site. The footage also showed chemicals and laboratory equipment being moved from the property on August 21.
Further intelligence led operatives to an isolated house in a neighbouring community, where they recovered methamphetamine-related chemicals, equipment and paraphernalia, including acetone, toluene, hydrochloric acid, dehydrators, condensers, reaction equipment and other laboratory materials. Marwa said the recovery, CCTV footage, forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts had strengthened the case against those linked to the network.
Marwa warned that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories to the country’s forests and rural communities. He commended officers involved in the Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi operations and said the agency would continue pursuing the network, its financiers and local collaborators. The NDLEA also urged residents to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours or unfamiliar structures through its toll-free line, 080010203040, or by email at [email protected].
