NDLEA Arrests Fugitive Drug Baron After 13 Years on the Run

 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a suspected drug kingpin, Reginald Peter Chidiebere, who had been on the run for 13 years over alleged involvement in cocaine and heroin trafficking.

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed in a statement on Sunday that Chidiebere was initially arrested in 2013 for cocaine trafficking and arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos. However, he reportedly jumped bail shortly after his release and went into hiding.

According to the agency, Chidiebere’s name resurfaced in February 2024 as one of the alleged masterminds behind the importation of 49.70 kilogrammes of heroin from South Africa. The consignment was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Babafemi explained that a follow-up operation conducted on February 19, 2024, at Golden Platinum Hotel & Suites, located in the Okota area of Lagos and linked to the suspect, led to the recovery of an additional 2.20 kilogrammes of heroin from a guest identified as Igbuanugo Ebuka ThankGod. Following the operation, the suspect again went underground.

The agency subsequently secured an interim forfeiture order on the hotel and froze bank accounts traced to him.

“Unable to sustain life in hiding any longer, the suspect surrendered himself to NDLEA operatives on February 13, 2026,” the statement said.

He is currently in custody and will face pending charges related to the 2013 case as well as fresh charges connected to the 2024 heroin shipments.

Reacting to the development, NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operation, reaffirming the agency’s commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks across the country.

In related operations, NDLEA operatives in Imo State on February 25 dismantled a clandestine drug laboratory in Isiozi Obiato, Umuaka, Njaba Local Government Area, recovering 18.4 kilogrammes of methamphetamine alongside large quantities of precursor chemicals and production equipment.

At the Seme border in Lagos, officers intercepted a Togolese woman, Hadiza Musa, on February 27 with 5,000 tramadol pills concealed in her luggage.

Similarly, operatives recovered 1,040 kilogrammes of skunk from an uncompleted building at Akodo village, Seaside Eleko, in the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos.

Other seizures recorded nationwide included 1,499 bottles of codeine syrup in Kano, 87.4 kilogrammes of skunk in Katsina State, and 18.085 kilogrammes of skunk intercepted in Osun State.

The NDLEA reiterated its resolve to intensify enforcement operations aimed at curbing illicit drug trafficking and abuse across Nigeria.