Two Mexicans, Four Nigerians Remanded Over Oyo Methamphetamine Laboratory
Oru Leonard
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has secured the remand of two Mexican nationals and four Nigerians over their alleged involvement in the establishment and operation of an illegal methamphetamine production laboratory in Oyo State.
The six defendants were arraigned before Justice Nkeonye Evelyn Maha of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, drug trafficking and the illegal production of psychotropic substances.
The defendants are 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa and 40-year-old Carrera Loaiza Arturo, both Mexican nationals, alongside four Nigerians identified as Maxwell Uche Nevoh, 30; Olatunji Yusuf, 37; Bankole Akeem Owolabi, 45; and Ganiu Monsiu, 43.
According to the NDLEA, five of the suspects, including one Mexican national, were arrested on June 17, 2026, by its operatives at a forest location in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The second Mexican, Arturo, was subsequently arrested on August 19, 2026, while allegedly attempting to leave Nigeria through the Lagos airport.
The four-count charge indicated that the defendants allegedly conspired between December 2025 and June 2026, at different locations in Lagos and Oyo States, to establish and operate a drug trafficking organisation and a clandestine laboratory for methamphetamine production.
They were also accused of unlawfully transporting and distributing chemical substances intended for the manufacture of methamphetamine, contrary to Section 20(1)(f) and punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the NDLEA Act.
All six defendants pleaded not guilty after the charges were read and explained to them in languages they understood.
Following their pleas, Justice Maha ordered that they be remanded at the Correctional Centre in Ibadan pending trial.
The court subsequently adjourned the case to January 26, 27, 28 and 29, 2027, for trial.
In a related development, three other Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators arrested over an alleged similar operation at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026, have also been remanded following their arraignment before a Federal High Court in Lagos.
The trial judge had rejected their bail application and ordered an accelerated hearing of the case.
The NDLEA disclosed the development in a statement issued on Friday, November 6, 2026, by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja.
