The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a 56-year-old Mexican national it described as an alleged drug kingpin.
The development was disclosed by NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), during a briefing in Lagos on Tuesday. The agency said the operation followed months of investigation into a wider suspected network allegedly linked to clandestine drug laboratories in Nigeria.
According to the NDLEA, its investigation began after three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.
A month later, on June 17, another Mexican national and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested at a suspected methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The agency said further investigation identified the 56-year-old Mexican, Jose Villa Ochoa, as allegedly recruited into Nigeria by another Mexican national, Arturo Carrera Loaiza.
The NDLEA said Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez, before he was arrested at Lagos airport on August 19 while allegedly attempting to leave the country.
During interrogation, Loaiza reportedly said he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact known only as “Henry” for a restaurant business venture. He also denied knowledge of methamphetamine production or involvement in the Oyo laboratory.
However, the agency said investigators recovered photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing among equipment it considered consistent with methamphetamine production.
The NDLEA said location metadata from the photographs led investigators to a property under construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State.
CCTV Links Suspects To Ebonyi Property
NDLEA operatives visited the Ebonyi property on August 30, according to the agency.
The property was linked by the agency to John Samuel Ivo Okike. Investigators reportedly learnt from people at the site, including a site engineer and caretaker, that a temporary structure had been erected around the septic tank area and that strong chemical odours had been noticed.
The agency said a CCTV memory card recovered from the property provided additional evidence.
According to the NDLEA, forensic analysis showed a foreign national wearing a blue laboratory coat at the property, allegedly matching the photographs of Loaiza. The footage also reportedly showed Okike and the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment from the property on August 21.
The agency said further intelligence led officers to an isolated house in a neighbouring community where the materials were allegedly stored.
A subsequent raid reportedly resulted in the recovery of chemicals, laboratory equipment and other materials allegedly connected to methamphetamine production.
Among the items listed by the NDLEA were a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve with loose methamphetamine, three empty dehydrators, 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 20kg of an acetone and bromobenzene mixture, 1.7kg of ethanol and 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid.
Other recovered items reportedly included P2B, tartaric acid, condensing units, laboratory condensers, a fabricated reaction pot, pumps, weighing scales, mixers, drums and gas burners.
The agency said the recovered materials, CCTV footage, forensic analysis and witness accounts had strengthened its investigation into the suspected network.
NDLEA Targets Suspected Drug Network
Marwa said the agency would continue investigating the suspected transnational network, including alleged financiers and Nigerian collaborators.
He said the recent operations in Ebonyi, Oyo and Ogun demonstrated the agency’s efforts to prevent suspected international drug syndicates from establishing laboratories in Nigeria.
The NDLEA also urged residents, particularly those in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activities, unusual chemical odours and unfamiliar structures to the agency.
