NDLEA Arrests Mexican Drug Kingpin At Lagos Airport, Uncovers Meth Labs In Ebonyi, Oyo

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a Mexican methamphetamine kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos while attempting to flee the country.

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (rtd), disclosed the development during a media briefing in Lagos, revealing that the agency also dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.

Marwa stated that the operation followed months of intelligence gathering into an international drug cartel running secret laboratories across Ogun, Oyo, and Ebonyi states.

According to the agency, security forces had earlier arrested three Mexicans and seven Nigerian accomplices in an Ogun forest on May 16, 2026.

On June 17, 2026, another Mexican national, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, alongside four Nigerians, was apprehended at a secret laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Subsequent investigations revealed that Ochoa was recruited by Loaiza, who entered Nigeria on June 10, accompanied by another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.

Loaiza was intercepted by NDLEA officers on August 19, 2026, as he attempted to board an outbound flight from Lagos.

Although the suspect claimed he visited Nigeria for a restaurant business venture, digital forensic analysis recovered photographs showing him in lab attire beside production equipment.

Location metadata from the retrieved files led operatives to a construction site in Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State, on August 30, 2026.

Surveillance footage and follow-up raids on nearby properties linked to local accomplices led to the recovery of large quantities of methamphetamine precursors, processing equipment, and laboratory materials.