In short
- Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said Arturo Carrera Loaiza, 40, an alleged Mexican drug kingpin, was arrested at Lagos international airport as he tried to leave the country.
- Images found on Loaiza included digital pictures of him wearing what officials believed was a laboratory coat alongside equipment consistent with methamphetamine production.
- Location data from those images led officers to a property in Ebonyi state, where the NDLEA said chemicals and drug-making equipment were found.
- The Ebonyi find is the third suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory allegedly linked to Mexicans in four months, according to the NDLEA.
- NDLEA chairman Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa said international criminal groups were attempting to establish drug-production facilities in Nigeria’s forests and rural communities.
Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency said on 15 September 2026 that it had arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza, 40, an alleged Mexican drug kingpin, at Lagos international airport as he tried to leave the country, and that images found on him led officers to a suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi state.
Who is Arturo Carrera Loaiza and what does he say?
Arturo Carrera Loaiza, 40, was detained at Lagos international airport last month as he tried to leave Nigeria, according to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The agency said officials found digital images of him wearing what they believed to be a laboratory coat alongside equipment consistent with methamphetamine production. Loaiza has denied involvement in methamphetamine production and said he had been invited to Nigeria by a local contact for a restaurant business venture, according to an NDLEA statement.
What did investigators find in Ebonyi state?
The location data attached to those images led officers to a property in Ebonyi state, where the NDLEA said chemicals and drug-making equipment were found. At the suspected laboratory, investigators recovered a CCTV memory card holding footage from the property that showed a person who looked like Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat, while a Nigerian man was identified directing people as they removed chemicals and equipment from the site.
What else was seized?
NDLEA chairman Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa said further intelligence led officers to an isolated house in a neighbouring community, where they recovered chemicals, dehydrators, condensers, a reaction pot, weighing scales, mixers, drums, gas burners and a sieve containing traces of methamphetamine. No estimate has yet been given of how much methamphetamine the alleged laboratory was capable of producing.
How many methamphetamine laboratories have been linked to Mexicans?
The Ebonyi find is the third suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory allegedly linked to Mexicans in four months, according to the NDLEA. Investigators allege that Loaiza recruited and brought a fellow Mexican to work at another suspected methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forest in Oyo state, which was raided in June; four Nigerians were also arrested after that raid. A month earlier, NDLEA officers arrested three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians at what the agency described as an industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory hidden in a forest in another part of Nigeria. Mexico’s courts have handled high-profile organised-crime prosecutions of their own, including the trial over the killing of Australian surfers and a US friend.
Why do Mexican syndicates operate in West Africa?
Unlike plant-based drugs such as cocaine or heroin, which can only be grown and processed in certain places, a synthetic drug like methamphetamine can be produced anywhere with the right chemicals and expertise, making it easier for organised crime groups to scale up production quickly. West Africa offers Mexican syndicates large areas of forested land, which serves well for secluded production sites.
What has the NDLEA said about the network?
Gen Marwa said the operations showed international criminal groups were attempting to establish drug-production facilities in Nigeria’s forests and rural communities. “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,” he said. The NDLEA said its investigation into the network is ongoing, including into those it believes financed or helped facilitate the operations in Nigeria.
Cross-border criminal proceedings involving Latin American nationals have also drawn attention elsewhere in the region. Alex Saab, an ally of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, pleaded guilty in a US money laundering case.
Frequently asked questions
Who was arrested in Nigeria over an alleged methamphetamine laboratory?
Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says it arrested Arturo Carrera Loaiza, 40, an alleged Mexican drug kingpin, at Lagos international airport last month. He has denied involvement in methamphetamine production.
Where was the suspected methamphetamine laboratory found?
Location data from images found on Loaiza led officers to a property in Ebonyi state, where the NDLEA said chemicals and drug-making equipment were found. Further intelligence then led officers to an isolated house in a neighbouring community where chemicals and production equipment were seized.
How many Mexicans have been linked to methamphetamine laboratories in Nigeria?
The NDLEA says the Ebonyi find is the third suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory allegedly linked to Mexicans in four months. A laboratory hidden in a forest in Oyo state was raided in June, and a month earlier three Mexican nationals and seven Nigerians were arrested at another such site.
What does Arturo Carrera Loaiza say about the case?
According to an NDLEA statement, Loaiza denied involvement in methamphetamine production and said he had been invited to Nigeria by a local contact for a restaurant business venture.
With reporting from BBC News.
Stock image, not from the events described. City Skyline — Chris HP / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
