Two Mexican nationals and four Nigerian collaborators have been remanded in custody after the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arraigned them over the alleged establishment and operation of a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in Oyo state. The defendants appeared before Justice Nkeonye Evelyn Maha of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, on a four-count charge. The laboratory was located in Tapa village, Ibarapa North local government area.
According to a statement signed by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi on Friday, one of the Mexicans, 56-year-old Jose Villa Ochoa, and four Nigerians, Maxwell Uche Nevoh, 30; Olatunji Yusuf, 37; Bankole Akeem Owolabi, 45; and Ganiu Monsiu, 43, were arrested by NDLEA operatives in a forested part of the village on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. The second Mexican, Carrera Loaiza Arturo, 40, was arrested on August 19, 2026, while allegedly trying to flee the country through the Lagos airport.
According to the charge, the defendants conspired between December 2025 and June 2026, at various locations in Lagos and Oyo states, to run a drug trafficking organisation and set up a laboratory for producing methamphetamine, a psychotropic substance. They are also accused of unlawfully transporting and distributing chemicals used in manufacturing the drug, an offence under section 20(1)(f) and punishable under section 20(2)(a) of the NDLEA Act.
All six pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to them in a language they understood. Justice Maha ordered that they be remanded at the Correctional Centre, Ibadan, and adjourned the case until January 26, 27, 28 and 29, 2027 for trial. Meanwhile, three other Mexicans and seven Nigerian collaborators arrested over a similar offence at a forest hideout in Ogun State on Saturday, May 16, 2026, are also in custody. A Federal High Court in Lagos rejected their bail application and ordered accelerated hearing of the case.
