Marwa vows: “Nigeria will not be a haven for transnational drug cartels”
Felix Mbata, Lagos state
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has again dealt a decisive blow to transnational drug cartels with the dismantling of another industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State and the arrest of a fleeing Mexican drug kingpin at the Lagos airport.
Briefing journalists in Lagos on Tuesday, 15th September 2026, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), said the breakthrough was the product of months of painstaking investigation by the Agency’s Special Operations Unit into a wider criminal network behind a string of clandestine drug laboratories uncovered across the country this year.
Represented by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Marwa recalled that NDLEA operatives had earlier arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest hideout in Ogun State on 16th May 2026. Barely a month later, on 17th June 2026, another Mexican was arrested alongside four Nigerian collaborators at a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forested part of Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State, where field tests confirmed large quantities of methamphetamine and precursor chemicals.
Investigations into the Oyo arrest led operatives to Jose Villa Ochoa, a 56-year-old Mexican methamphetamine expert who had been recruited into Nigeria by a Mexican kingpin, Arturo Carrera Loaiza. Working with international partners, NDLEA investigators obtained a photograph of Loaiza which Ochoa positively identified as the man who recruited and moved him into Nigeria. Further intelligence showed that Loaiza entered Nigeria on 10th June 2026 alongside another Mexican national, Jose Ceballos Perez.
On 19th August 2026, NDLEA operatives tracked down and arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza as he attempted to flee the country through the Lagos airport. During interrogation, he claimed he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact identified only as “Henry” under the guise of a restaurant business venture, and denied any knowledge of methamphetamine manufacturing or involvement with the Tapa village laboratory.
However, evidence recovered by investigators told a different story. Images were found of Arturo dressed in a blue laboratory coat standing amid equipment consistent with methamphetamine production. Analysis of the location metadata embedded in those images led operatives to a property undergoing construction at Isiata Ugoni Okposi in Ebonyi State, linked to one John Samuel Ivo Okike.
On 30th August 2026, operatives moved on the Ebonyi property. Interviews with persons found at the site, including the site engineer and a caretaker, revealed the erection of a suspicious temporary structure over the septic tank area at the rear of the building and persistent strong chemical odours emanating from the premises.
A CCTV memory card recovered from the property proved decisive. Forensic review of the footage showed a foreign national in a blue laboratory coat on the premises, matching the image of Arturo Carrera Loaiza, as well as repeated appearances by John Samuel Ivo Okike. Critically, the footage captured at about 9:00 p.m. on 21st August 2026 the movement of chemicals and laboratory equipment out of the property, with John Samuel Ivo Okike seen directing the operation alongside others assisting in the relocation.
Acting on further intelligence from a confidential source, operatives traced the relocated materials to an isolated house in a neighbouring community kept under the custody of one Nwanja Obasi. A raid on that location led to the recovery of a substantial cache of methamphetamine-related chemicals and equipment. Among the items recovered were 442.8 kilograms of Acetone, 200 kilograms of P2B, 37.1 kilograms of Toluene, a 20 kilogram mixture of Acetone and Bromobenzene, 31.5 kilograms of Hydrochloric acid, 5.1 kilograms of Chloride Salt, 1.7 kilograms of Ethanol and 1 kilogram of Tartaric acid. Operatives also recovered a dehydrator containing a white cloth sieve embedded with loose methamphetamine and three additional empty dehydrators, condensing units, a condenser head, a condenser, a fabricated reaction pot, an access pump, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners, gloves and a blue laboratory coat matching the one seen in the CCTV footage at the John Samuel property.
“This recovery, taken together with the CCTV evidence, other forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, has significantly strengthened the case against all persons connected to this network,” the Agency stated.
Speaking on the capacity and capability of the Agency under his leadership, Marwa warned that Nigeria will never become a safe haven for merchants of death.
“Let me be unequivocal. Nigeria will not be allowed to become a haven for transnational drug cartels seeking to relocate their laboratories from other jurisdictions into our forests and rural communities. The arrest of Arturo Carrera Loaiza and the dismantling of the Ebonyi State facility, coming so soon after the Ogun and Oyo State operations, demonstrate that this Agency’s intelligence and forensic capabilities are more than a match for these syndicates, however sophisticated they may believe themselves to be,” he stated.
The NDLEA boss commended the officers of the Special Operations Unit, Strike Force, Forensics and the Oyo, Ogun and Ebonyi State Commands for their diligence, professionalism and courage in the discharge of their responsibilities in the three spectacular operations. He vowed that the Agency would continue pursuing every lead until the full network, its financiers and local enablers are brought to justice.
The Agency also renewed its call on Nigerians, particularly those in rural and forested communities, to report suspicious activity, unusual chemical odours, or unfamiliar structures to the NDLEA through its toll-free line 080010203040, or by email at info@ndlea.gov.ng.
In just four months, NDLEA has dismantled three industrial meth laboratories in Ogun, Oyo and now Ebonyi, arrested multiple foreign nationals and Nigerian collaborators, and seized over 700 kilograms of precursor chemicals including 442.8kg of Acetone and 200kg of P2B used in the production of dangerous drugs.
With the arrest of kingpin Arturo Carrera Loaiza at the Lagos airport and the unraveling of a network that moved operations from forest hideouts to constructed buildings, Brig. Gen. Marwa (Rtd) has shown that the Agency’s intelligence, forensic capability and inter-agency collaboration are closing the space for cartels in Nigeria.
The message from NDLEA is clear and final: Nigeria is not for sale to drug cartels. As investigations continue to identify “Henry” and other financiers, the war will be taken to the doorsteps of the merchants of death, wherever they hide.