The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested another suspected Mexican drug kingpin and dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.
CDA News Nigeria gathered that the suspect, Mexican national Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested on August 19, 2026, while allegedly attempting to flee Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, according to NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), represented by the agency’s Director of Media, Femi Babafemi.
The operation followed months of investigation into a transnational drug syndicate linked to earlier arrests, including three Mexicans and seven Nigerians at an Ogun State forest hideout in May, and another Mexican national alongside four Nigerians at a Tapa village lab in Oyo State in June. Investigators discovered that 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, arrested at the Oyo lab, had allegedly been recruited into Nigeria by Loaiza.
Though Loaiza claimed during interrogation that he came to Nigeria for a restaurant business, investigators recovered photographs showing him in a laboratory coat surrounded by production equipment. Metadata analysis led operatives 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.
Recovered items included acetone, toluene, hydrochloric acid, condensing units, fabricated reaction pots and a laboratory coat linked to the suspects.
Marwa vowed Nigeria would not become a haven for transnational drug cartels, commending the Special Operations Unit and state commands involved, while confirming investigations would continue to apprehend other syndicate members.
CDA News Nigeria will continue monitoring this ongoing investigation.
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