NDLEA Arrests Wanted Drug Kingpin After 13 Years on the Run

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have arrested a wanted drug kingpin, Reginald Peter Chidiebere, who had been in hiding for 13 years over his alleged involvement in cocaine and heroin trafficking.

The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, confirmed this in a statement issued on Sunday.

According to the statement, Chidiebere was initially arrested in 2013 for importing cocaine into Nigeria and was arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos. However, he jumped bail shortly after and went into hiding. His name resurfaced in February 2024 as one of the alleged masterminds behind the importation of 49.70kg of heroin from South Africa, which was intercepted by NDLEA officers at the Lagos airport import shed.

Following the latest seizure, Chidiebere went underground again. The agency secured an interim forfeiture of his hotel and froze all bank accounts traced to him. Unable to sustain himself in hiding, he surrendered to the agency on February 13, 2026, and has since been taken into custody. He will face his pending charges from 2013, in addition to new charges related to the 2024 heroin consignments.

In a related operation, NDLEA operatives in Imo State dismantled a clandestine laboratory at Isiozi Obiato, Umuaka, in Njaba Local Government Area. The raid led to the recovery of 18.4kg of methamphetamine, along with precursor chemicals and production equipment.

At the Seme border, officers intercepted a Togolese woman, Hadiza Musa, who allegedly concealed 5,000 tramadol pills in her luggage. In another operation on the same day, 1,040kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis, was recovered from an uncompleted building at Akodo village, Seaside Eleko, along the Ibeju-Lekki axis.

In Kano State, a suspect, Ashiru Bala, 45, was arrested with 1,499 bottles of codeine syrup concealed in a Volkswagen Golf car. Another suspect, Yahaya Usaini, 21, was apprehended along the Zaria–Dutsinma road in Katsina State with 87.4kg of skunk hidden in a Toyota Hiace bus.

In Osun State, two suspects, Adewale Fatunmise, 40, and Adebisi Korede, 25, were arrested in connection with the seizure of 18.085kg of skunk in Osogbo.

In Taraba State, operatives intercepted a Mercedes-Benz vehicle along the Bali–Suntai road, recovering 637,600 pills of opioids, including tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5. A separate operation in the Lankaviri Yorro area led to the arrest of Musa Usman, 27, and the seizure of 126.022kg of skunk.

Additionally, 499.2kg of skunk was seized at Dei-Dei in the Federal Capital Territory, while in Borno State, a suspect, Bulama Modu, 24, was intercepted along the Bama–Konduga road with 7,000 capsules of tramadol.