NDLEA Busts Industrial Meth Lab, Arrests Mexican Suspected Drug Kingpin

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, says it has dismantled another industrial scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and arrested a Mexican national, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, described by the agency as a suspected kingpin in a transnational drug network.

Loaiza was arrested on August 19 while attempting to leave Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, following months of investigation into clandestine methamphetamine laboratories discovered in Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi states.

The investigation followed the arrest of Mexican nationals and their Nigerian collaborators at suspected drug laboratories in Ogun and Oyo states.

According to the NDLEA, a Mexican methamphetamine expert arrested in Oyo identified Loaiza as the person who allegedly recruited him and brought him into Nigeria.

The agency said Loaiza denied involvement in methamphetamine production and claimed that a Nigerian contact known as Henry invited him to Nigeria under the guise of a restaurant business.

However, investigators reportedly recovered images allegedly showing Loaiza wearing a laboratory coat and standing among equipment believed to be associated with methamphetamine production.

The NDLEA said the operation has exposed a wider international network allegedly seeking to establish methamphetamine production facilities in Nigeria, while investigations continue to identify other individuals connected to the network.