Two mexicans, four Nigerians remanded over alleged Oyo methamphetamine laboratory
Abdullateef Fowewe
Two Mexican nationals and four Nigerian collaborators have been remanded at the Correctional Centre, Ibadan, over allegations that they established and operated a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Tapa village, Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The six defendants were arraigned before Justice Nkeonye Evelyn Maha of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, on a four-count charge filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
They all pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them in a language they understood.
The NDLEA accused the defendants of conspiring between December 2025 and June 2026, at various locations in Lagos and Oyo states, to operate a drug trafficking organisation and establish a laboratory for the production of methamphetamine, a psychotropic substance.
The agency also alleged that they unlawfully engaged in the transportation and distribution of chemical substances for methamphetamine production, contrary to Section 20(1)(f) and punishable under Section 20(2)(a) of the NDLEA Act.
The defendants are Mexicans Jose Villa Ochoa, 56, and Carrera Loaiza Arturo, 40, as well as Nigerians Maxwell Uche Nevoh, 30; Olatunji Yusuf, 37; Bankole Akeem Owolabi, 45; and Ganiu Monsiu, 43.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Friday said Ochoa and the four Nigerian suspects were arrested on June 17, 2026, by operatives in a forested area of Tapa village.
“Carrera Loaiza Arturo was tracked down and arrested when attempting to flee the country through the Lagos airport on 19th August 2026,” Babafemi said.
Justice Maha ordered that all six defendants be remanded at the Correctional Centre, Ibadan, and adjourned the case to January 26, 27, 28 and 29, 2027, for trial.
The NDLEA said three other Mexican nationals and seven Nigerian collaborators, arrested in a similar operation at a forest hideout in Ogun State on May 16, 2026, have also been remanded in prison.
According to the agency, they were arraigned before a Federal High Court in Lagos, where the trial judge rejected their bail application and ordered an accelerated hearing.
