NDLEA Nabs Mexican Drug Kingpin, Dismantles Meth Lab In Ebonyi

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested another suspected Mexican drug kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, and dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State. Loaiza was arrested on August 19, 2026, while allegedly attempting to flee Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), represented by spokesperson Femi Babafemi, disclosed on Tuesday.

Marwa said the operation followed months of investigation into a transnational syndicate linked to earlier arrests, including three Mexicans and seven Nigerians in Ogun State on May 16, and another Mexican and four Nigerians in Oyo State on June 17. Investigations revealed that 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, arrested at the Oyo lab, had allegedly identified Loaiza as the man who recruited and brought him into Nigeria, which he reportedly entered on June 10, 2026, alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.

Loaiza denied involvement in methamphetamine production during interrogation, claiming he came for a restaurant business, but investigators recovered photographs showing him in a laboratory coat among production equipment. Metadata analysis traced the images to a property in Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State, where an August 30 raid uncovered suspicious structures, chemical odours and CCTV footage allegedly showing Loaiza and Nigerian suspect John Samuel Ivo Okike moving chemicals and equipment. A follow-up raid on another house recovered further chemicals including acetone, toluene and hydrochloric acid, alongside production equipment.

Marwa warned that Nigeria would not become a haven for transnational drug cartels, commending the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics Department and the Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi commands, and said investigations would continue to apprehend other members and financiers linked to the syndicate.