NDLEA Busts Industrial Meth Lab In Ebonyi, Arrests Mexican Drug Kingpin

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has dismantled another industrial scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a Mexican national suspected of recruiting experts into Nigeria for clandestine drug production.

The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed the development on Tuesday in Lagos, saying the latest operation followed months of investigation into a wider transnational drug network operating across parts of the country.

Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the suspected Mexican kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested on August 19 while attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport.

According to the agency, investigations linked Loaiza to Jose Villa Ochoa, a 56 year old Mexican methamphetamine expert arrested alongside four Nigerian collaborators at a clandestine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, in June.

NDLEA said Ochoa identified Loaiza as the Mexican national who recruited and brought him into Nigeria. Intelligence gathered with the assistance of international partners also indicated that Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.

Investigators subsequently traced Loaiza to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State after recovering photographs showing him wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing beside equipment allegedly associated with methamphetamine production.

The agency said a CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided further evidence, showing a foreign national resembling Loaiza at the site and local suspect John Samuel Ivo Okike repeatedly appearing at the premises.

According to NDLEA, CCTV footage also captured the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property on August 21, with Okike allegedly directing the relocation.

Following further intelligence, operatives traced the materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community where they were allegedly kept by one Nwanja Obasi. A subsequent raid led to the recovery of large quantities of chemicals, laboratory equipment and other items allegedly connected to methamphetamine production.

The NDLEA said the recovery included 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid, 200kg of P2B and other precursor chemicals, as well as dehydrators, condensers, reaction equipment, weighing scales, mixers and other laboratory paraphernalia.

The latest operation follows earlier NDLEA raids in Ogun and Oyo states, where several Mexican nationals and Nigerian collaborators were arrested in connection with clandestine methamphetamine laboratories.

Marwa warned that Nigeria would not provide a safe haven for international drug cartels seeking to establish laboratories in the country, particularly in forests and rural communities.

He commended officers of the agency’s Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for what he described as their professionalism and courage.

The NDLEA chairman vowed that investigations would continue until the wider network, including financiers and local collaborators allegedly involved in the operations, are identified and brought to justice.