Nigeria's drug enforcement agency has revealed the arrest of Arturo Carrera Loaiza, a 40-year-old Mexican national, at Lagos international airport last month as he attempted to leave the country. The arrest led investigators to a suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory in Ebonyi state, the third such facility allegedly linked to Mexican nationals uncovered in Nigeria within four months, fuelling concerns that international cartels are seeking to relocate production operations to West Africa.

Officials say digital images found on Loaiza showed him wearing what appeared to be a laboratory coat alongside drug-making equipment, with location data from the photos leading them to the Ebonyi property, where chemicals and equipment including dehydrators, condensers and gas burners were recovered. Loaiza denies involvement, claiming he had been invited to Nigeria for a restaurant venture, but investigators allege he also recruited a fellow Mexican for another suspected lab raided in Oyo state in June, following a separate raid a month earlier in which three Mexicans and seven Nigerians were arrested. The NDLEA says its investigation into the wider network, including financiers and facilitators, is ongoing.