NDLEA arrests wanted drug kingpin after 13yr manhunt

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has successfully apprehended a notorious drug kingpin, Reginald Peter Chidiebere, who had been in hiding for 13 years following his involvement in cocaine and heroin shipments.

Chidiebere was first arrested in 2013 for smuggling cocaine but jumped bail and disappeared shortly after his arraignment. His criminal activities resurfaced in February 2024 when he was identified as a mastermind behind a 49.70kg heroin importation from South Africa.

Following the 2024 interception, the NDLEA seized his hotel in Lagos and blocked his bank accounts, a move that eventually crippled his ability to remain underground and prompted his surrender on February 13, 2026.

In a series of other coordinated strikes, the agency dismantled a clandestine methamphetamine laboratory in the Umuaka area of Imo State, recovering 18.4kg of the illicit substance along with production equipment.

Operatives also intercepted a Togolese woman, Hadiza Musa, at the Seme border with 5,000 tramadol pills, and recovered over 1,000kg of Canadian Loud (skunk) from a building in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.

Further arrests and seizures were recorded in Kano, Katsina, Osun, Taraba, Borno, and the FCT. NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the persistence of his officers, stating that the agency remains resolute in dismantling criminal networks and ensuring that no offender, regardless of how long they stay in hiding, escapes justice.