NDLEA arrests Mexican drug kingpin linked to Ebonyi meth lab

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Mexican drug kingpin Arturo Carrera Loaiza while attempting to flee Nigeria through the Lagos airport and linked him to a methamphetamine laboratory uncovered in Ebonyi State.

The development was disclosed in a statement by NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.

The agency said Loaiza’s arrest followed months of investigation into a wider transnational drug network operating through clandestine laboratories in parts of Nigeria.

What NDLEA is saying

NDLEA said its investigation established that Loaiza recruited 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert Jose Villa Ochoa to Nigeria to work at a clandestine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State. Ochoa was arrested alongside four Nigerian collaborators on June 17, 2026.

• “On 19th August 2026, our operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport. During interrogation, he claimed he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact, identified only as “Henry,” under the guise of a restaurant business venture, and denied any knowledge of methamphetamine manufacturing or involvement with the Tapa village laboratory.”
• “However, our findings told a different story. Investigators recovered images of Arturo dressed in a blue laboratory coat, standing amid equipment consistent with methamphetamine production. Analysis of the location metadata embedded in these images led our operatives to a property undergoing construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State,” the agency said.

NDLEA said Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez. A CCTV memory card recovered from the Ebonyi property also showed John Samuel Ivo Okike repeatedly appearing at the site.

NDLEA traces relocated laboratory materials

Further intelligence led operatives to an isolated house in a neighbouring community where laboratory materials from the Ebonyi site had reportedly been relocated and kept under the custody of Nwanja Obasi. A raid on the location recovered methamphetamine, chemicals and equipment used in the laboratory operation.

A dehydrator containing loose methamphetamine and three additional dehydrators were recovered.

The chemicals included 442.8 kilogrammes of acetone, 37.1 kilogrammes of toluene, 31.5 kilogrammes of hydrochloric acid and 200 kilogrammes of P2B.

Other materials included ethanol, chloride salt, tartaric acid and a 20 kilogramme acetone/bromobenzene mixture.

Operatives also recovered condensing units, a condenser, fabricated reaction pots, mixers, drums, gas burners and weighing scales.

The agency said the recovery, together with CCTV footage, forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, strengthened its case against those connected to the network.

Get up to speed

The arrest comes amid intensified NDLEA operations against international drug networks across airports, ports and courier facilities. Nairametrics earlier reported the arrest and repatriation of Festus Ibewuike, a fugitive linked to the seizure of 49.7 kilogrammes of heroin at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in 2024.

• Ibewuike allegedly fled Nigeria and relocated to Mozambique, remaining on the run for more than two years.
• The NDLEA said 107 bank accounts linked to the cartel were frozen, while properties connected to the syndicate were forfeited.
• The agency recently seized 47,200 captagon pills valued at more than N1.5 billion and about 3.9 million tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg worth more than N4.6 billion at the Lagos airport.

It also uncovered a concealed compartment designed to hide illicit drugs in a 20,000-litre fuel tanker and arrested a previously convicted cocaine trafficker.

The operations reflect the agency’s wider campaign against international drug trafficking and illicit drug production networks.

What you should know

The NDLEA has continued large-scale drug seizures and destruction exercises across the country. In August, the agency destroyed 329,865.585 kilogrammes of assorted illicit drugs and psychotropic substances valued at N301.06 billion in Lagos following an order from the Federal High Court, Lagos Judicial Division.

The destroyed drugs included cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis, ephedrine, tramadol, codeine syrup, other opioids and khat leaf.

The NDLEA Lagos Strategic Command accounted for 246,864.535 kilogrammes seized between April 2025 and May 2026.

Another 83,001.05 kilogrammes came from operations by the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Tincan and Apapa Strategic Commands, the Marine Command and a Special Operations Unit.

In June, the agency destroyed 73,463.21 kilogrammes of illicit drugs and psychotropic substances valued at N2.8 billion in Edo State.