The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has arrested another suspected Mexican drug kingpin and dismantled an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.
The suspect, identified as Mexican national Arturo Carrera Loaiza, was arrested while allegedly attempting to leave Nigeria through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing journalists in Lagos.
Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the arrest followed months of investigation into a transnational drug syndicate allegedly linked to clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in several states.
He said investigations by the agency’s Special Operations Unit linked Loaiza to a 56-year-old Mexican national, Jose Villa Ochoa, who was arrested three months ago at a clandestine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
According to Marwa, Ochoa allegedly identified Loaiza from a photograph obtained through international collaboration, saying he was the person who recruited and brought him into Nigeria.
“Last month our operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza while attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport,” Marwa said.
“During interrogation, he claimed that he came to Nigeria for a restaurant business and denied involvement in methamphetamine production.
“However, investigators recovered photographs showing him wearing a laboratory coat and standing among equipment used for methamphetamine production.”
Marwa said analysis of metadata from the photographs led investigators to a property under construction in Isiata Ugoni Okposi, Ebonyi State.
He said a raid on the property uncovered suspicious structures, chemical odours and other evidence allegedly indicating illegal drug production.
Forensic analysis of CCTV footage from the property allegedly showed Loaiza and a Nigerian suspect, John Samuel Ivo Okike, moving chemicals and laboratory equipment from the premises.
The agency later searched another house and recovered additional chemicals and equipment allegedly used in methamphetamine production.
The recovered items included acetone, toluene, hydrochloric acid, ethanol, P2B, tartaric acid, condensing units, fabricated reaction pots, weighing scales, gas burners and a laboratory coat.
Marwa said CCTV footage, forensic analysis and witness accounts had strengthened the case against those allegedly connected to the syndicate.
The NDLEA chief also recalled that operatives had earlier arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians at a forest hideout in Ogun State.
He warned that Nigeria would not become a safe haven for international drug cartels.
“Nigeria will not be allowed to become a haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories into our forests and rural communities,” he said.
Marwa added that the arrests in Ebonyi, Ogun and Oyo demonstrated the agency’s growing intelligence and forensic capabilities.
He commended officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics Department and the Ogun, Oyo and Ebonyi State Commands for their roles in the operations.
The NDLEA said investigations would continue to identify and arrest other members, financiers and collaborators allegedly linked to the syndicate.
