The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Mexican national, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, described as a methamphetamine kingpin, while attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport.

The agency also dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State as part of investigations into a transnational drug network operating clandestine laboratories in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.

The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), disclosed this on Tuesday in Lagos while briefing journalists on the agency’s recent operations.

Marwa said the investigation followed the arrest of three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026.

He said another Mexican national, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerian collaborators were arrested on June 17 at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.

According to him, investigations established that Ochoa had been recruited into Nigeria by Loaiza. An international investigation also enabled NDLEA operatives to obtain a photograph of Loaiza, which Ochoa identified as the person who recruited him.

Marwa said Loaiza entered Nigeria on June 10 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez, and was subsequently tracked and arrested on August 19 while attempting to leave the country through Lagos.

He said Loaiza claimed during interrogation that he was invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact known as “Henry” under the guise of a restaurant business venture and denied involvement in methamphetamine production.

However, investigators reportedly recovered photographs showing Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat and standing beside equipment associated with methamphetamine production.

Marwa said location data from the photographs led investigators to a property under construction in Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.

A search of the property and a subsequent location where laboratory materials had allegedly been moved resulted in the recovery of large quantities of chemicals and equipment linked to methamphetamine production.

Among the recovered substances were 442.8kg of acetone, 37.1kg of toluene, 20kg of an acetone-bromobenzene mixture, 31.5kg of hydrochloric acid and 200kg of P2B.

The agency also recovered dehydrators, condensers, reaction equipment, pumps, weighing scales, mixers, drums and other laboratory materials.

Marwa said CCTV footage, forensic findings and eyewitness accounts had strengthened the investigation against individuals linked to the network.

He warned that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for international drug cartels seeking to establish laboratories in the country.

The NDLEA boss said the agency would continue pursuing the investigation until the wider network, financiers and local collaborators were identified and brought to justice.