The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Mexican national, Arturo Carrera Loaiza, whom it described as a suspected kingpin in a transnational methamphetamine network, while attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport.

The agency also said it had dismantled another industrial-scale clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State as part of a wider investigation into suspected drug-production networks operating across several parts of the country.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), disclosed the developments on Tuesday while briefing journalists in Lagos.

According to Marwa, Loaiza was tracked and arrested on August 19, 2026, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, as he attempted to leave the country.

The NDLEA said the arrest followed months of investigations into a transnational network allegedly involved in establishing clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in Nigeria.

The investigation reportedly began with the arrest of three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators at a forest location in Ogun State on May 16.

On June 17, operatives arrested another Mexican national, identified as 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, alongside four Nigerians at a suspected methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The agency said the investigation subsequently led operatives to the Ebonyi facility, which it described as another industrial-scale laboratory linked to the network.

According to the NDLEA, Loaiza told investigators that he had been invited to Nigeria by a Nigerian contact known only as “Henry” under the guise of a restaurant business venture.

The agency said the Mexican denied knowledge of methamphetamine production and rejected claims that he was involved with the laboratory previously uncovered in Tapa, Oyo State.

The NDLEA, however, said its investigation had established links between Loaiza and the wider network being investigated. The allegations against him remain subject to due process.

The NDLEA said its latest operation also resulted in the dismantling of a suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi State.

The agency said operatives recovered laboratory equipment and chemicals believed to have been intended for the production of methamphetamine.

The discovery has raised further concerns about attempts by international drug networks to establish clandestine production facilities in Nigeria, particularly in secluded and forested locations where such operations can be concealed from law enforcement.

Marwa said the latest arrests and laboratory seizures demonstrated the agency’s efforts to disrupt not only drug trafficking but also the production infrastructure supporting illicit narcotics in Nigeria.

The NDLEA has increasingly focused on suspected drug-production facilities and the individuals allegedly responsible for recruiting foreign expertise and establishing laboratories in the country.

The agency said investigations into the network were continuing, with efforts underway to identify other Nigerian and foreign collaborators connected to the suspected operations.

The arrest of Loaiza and the dismantling of the Ebonyi laboratory mark another development in the NDLEA’s ongoing investigation into what authorities say is an expanding transnational methamphetamine network operating across multiple Nigerian states.