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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested Reginald Peter Chidiebere, “a wanted drug kingpin”, who went into hiding for 13 years.
He was nabbed over cocaine and heroin shipments linked to him.
In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said Chidiebere was first arrested in 2013 for cocaine trafficking and arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the federal high court, Lagos, in charge number FHC/L/187c/2923.
He, however, jumped bail after being released and went underground.
His name resurfaced in February 2024 as one of the 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 (MMIA), Ikeja.
“A follow-up operation was carried out on 19th February 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 statement reads.
The agency subsequently secured an interim forfeiture of the hotel and blocked bank accounts traced to him.
“Following these developments, Chidiebere could no longer sustain himself in hiding, prompting his surrender to the agency on 13th February 2026,” Babafemi said.
He 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”.
Reacting to the arrest, Buba Marwa, NDLEA chairman, said the agency remains resolute in dismantling criminal networks and bringing offenders to justice.
“I commend our officers and men for their persistence and professionalism in this operation,” he said.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Imo state on February 25, dismantled “a clandestine laboratory tucked in Isiozi Obiato, Umuaka, Njaba local government area” where 18.4 kilogrammes 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 Lagos, officers on February 27, intercepted a Togolese woman, Hadiza Musa, who concealed “5,000 pills of tramadol in her luggage”.
In a separate operation, “1,040 kilograms of skunk” were recovered from an uncompleted building at Akodo village, Seaside Eleko, along Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos.
Other seizures recorded across states included 1,499 bottles of codeine syrup recovered in Kano, 87.4 kilogrammes of skunk intercepted in Katsina, and 18.085 kilogrammes of skunk seized in Osun.
