Alleged Mexican Drug Trafficker Arrested at Nigerian Airport

Nigeria's drug enforcement agency has disclosed the arrest last month of a man identified as Arturo Carrera Loaiza, a 40-year-old Mexican national suspected of links to methamphetamine production, as he attempted to leave the country through Lagos international airport.

According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), officials at the airport discovered digital photographs on his device showing him wearing what appeared to be a laboratory coat alongside equipment associated with methamphetamine manufacturing. Location data embedded in the images reportedly led investigators to a property in Ebonyi state, where chemicals and drug-production equipment were subsequently found.

The agency said a memory card recovered from a CCTV system at the site contained footage appearing to show a man resembling Loaiza wearing a blue laboratory coat, along with a Nigerian man allegedly directing others as they removed chemicals and equipment from the premises.

Loaiza has denied any involvement in methamphetamine production, telling authorities he had travelled to Nigeria at the invitation of a local contact to explore a restaurant business opportunity.

The NDLEA noted that this marks the third suspected industrial-scale methamphetamine laboratory linked to Mexican nationals uncovered in Nigeria within the past four months.