The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Mexican national identified as Arturo Carrera Loaiza at Lagos airport while he was attempting to leave Nigeria, following an investigation into a transnational methamphetamine network operating across several states.
The NDLEA said Loaiza was allegedly connected to clandestine drug laboratories in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states. His arrest came after months of intelligence gathering into the network and its suspected local collaborators.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa, disclosed the development in Lagos while briefing journalists on the agency’s latest operations. According to the Brandspur Politics Desk, the investigation had already led to several arrests before operatives identified Loaiza as a key figure in the network.
Marwa said three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians were arrested at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026. A month later, on June 17, Mexican national Jose Villa Ochoa, 56, was arrested alongside four Nigerian collaborators at a methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Investigators subsequently established that Ochoa had allegedly been recruited by Loaiza. Loaiza reportedly entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez, before being identified by Ochoa through an internationally obtained photograph.
NDLEA operatives eventually tracked Loaiza to Lagos, where he was arrested on August 19 as he attempted to leave the country. During questioning, he allegedly said a Nigerian contact known as Henry had invited him to Nigeria for a restaurant business venture and denied involvement in methamphetamine production.
Investigators, however, reportedly found photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat beside equipment said to be consistent with methamphetamine production. Location data from the images subsequently directed investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
The property, linked to John Samuel Ivo Okike, was raided by NDLEA operatives on August 30. The agency said CCTV footage showed a foreigner resembling Loaiza and Okike moving chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property on August 21.
Further intelligence led investigators to a nearby residence where the materials were allegedly stored under the custody of Nwanja Obasi. A subsequent raid uncovered quantities of chemicals, laboratory equipment and other materials associated with methamphetamine production.
The operation marks another major disruption to a suspected international drug network, with the NDLEA continuing investigations into the roles allegedly played by the foreign nationals and their Nigerian collaborators.
