13 Years After, Wanted Suspected Drug Kingpin Arrested

After 13 years in hiding, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a suspected drug kingpin, Reginald Peter Chidiebere, following the seizure of large consignments of cocaine and heroin linked to him by operatives of the organisation at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

Chidiebere was first arrested in 2013 over the shipment of cocaine into Nigeria and was arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court Lagos in charge no. FHC/L/187c/2923.

He however jumped bail and went into hiding after the trial judge granted him bail in 2013 and has since remained at large.

NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi said in February 2024, his name featured prominently as one of the masterminds of the shipment of 49.70 kilograms heroin imported from South Africa following the interception of the consignment by NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Lagos airport.

“A follow-up operation was carried out on February 19, 2024 at his Golden Platinum Hotel & Suites, located at No. 16/18 Reginald Peter Chidiebere Street, Hope Estate, Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos where an additional 2.20 kilograms of heroin was recovered from one of his guests, Igbuanugo Ebuka ThankGod. As a result, Chidiebere went underground.

The agency however secured the interim forfeiture of his hotel and blocked all bank accounts traced to him since 2024.

“Following these developments, Chidiebere could no longer sustain himself in hiding, prompting his surrender to the agency on February 13, 2026 and has since been taken into custody to face his pending charges for which he jumped bail in 2013 and fresh charges based on the 2024 heroin consignments linked to him,” Babafemi stated.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Imo State on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 dismantled a clandestine laboratory tucked in Isiozi Obiato, Umuaka, Njaba local government area of the state where 18.4 kilograms of methamphetamine were recovered along with large quantity of precursor chemicals  and equipment used in the production of the illicit substance.

At the Seme border in Badagry area of Lagos, NDLEA officers at the departure tarmac on Friday February 27, intercepted a Togolese woman, Hadiza Musa who concealed 5,000 pills of tramadol in her luggage, while a total of 1,040 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, were recovered from an uncompleted building at Akodo village, Seaside Eleko, along Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos by operatives on Wednesday, February 25.

The NDLEA also arrested a suspect, Ashiru Bala, 45, with 1,499 bottles of codeine syrup at Lambu, Tafa LGA, Kano State on Wednesday, February 25, while conveying the consignment in his Volkswagen Golf car marked CA 911 ABC.