An alleged Mexican drug kingpin was arrested last month in Nigeria while attempting to leave the country, according to the drug enforcement authority.
The arrest of Arturo Carrera Loaiza, 40, at Lagos international airport reportedly led to the discovery of a suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory. Officials allegedly found digital images of him wearing what they believed to be a laboratory coat alongside equipment consistent with meth production.
Location data from these pictures led officers to a property in Ebonyi state, where chemicals and drug-making equipment were reportedly found. Loaiza has denied involvement in methamphetamine production, stating he was invited to Nigeria for a restaurant business venture.
Investigators also found a CCTV memory card at the suspected laboratory in Ebonyi, showing footage of someone resembling Loaiza in a blue laboratory coat. Further intelligence led officers to another house where chemicals and drug-making equipment were recovered.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) chairman, Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa, stated that international criminal groups are attempting to establish drug-production facilities in Nigeria's forests and rural communities. The NDLEA's investigation into the network is ongoing.