The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended Reginald Peter Chidiebere, described by authorities as “a wanted drug kingpin”, ending over a decade of evasion linked to multiple cocaine and heroin trafficking cases.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Chidiebere was initially arrested in 2013 over cocaine trafficking offences and subsequently arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos under charge number FHC/L/187c/2923.
However, he absconded after being granted bail and remained in hiding for years.
The agency said investigations later identified him in February 2024 as one of the principal figures behind the importation of 49.70 kilogrammes of heroin shipped from South Africa. The illicit consignment was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja.
Babafemi explained that operatives carried out further operations linked to the suspect.
“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.
Following the discovery, the agency secured an interim forfeiture order on the hotel while bank accounts associated with the suspect were frozen.
“Following these developments, Chidiebere could no longer sustain himself in hiding, prompting his surrender to the agency on 13th February 2026,” Babafemi added.
The suspect is now in NDLEA custody and will face both the earlier charges he fled from in 2013 as well as fresh counts relating to the 2024 heroin seizures.
Reacting to the development, NDLEA Chairman, Buba Marwa, praised operatives involved in the operation, reaffirming the agency’s determination to dismantle drug trafficking networks.
“I commend our officers and men for their persistence and professionalism in this operation,” he said.
In related operations, NDLEA officers in Imo State on February 25 uncovered “a clandestine laboratory tucked in Isiozi Obiato, Umuaka, Njaba local government area”, where 18.4 kilogrammes of methamphetamine alongside “large quantity of precursor chemicals and equipment used in the production of the illicit substance” were recovered.
At the Seme border in Lagos, operatives on February 27 arrested a Togolese national, Hadiza Musa, after she allegedly concealed “5,000 pills of tramadol in her luggage”.
The agency also recovered “1,040 kilograms of skunk” from an abandoned building at Akodo village, Seaside Eleko, in the Ibeju-Lekki axis of Lagos.
Additional seizures across the country included 1,499 bottles of codeine syrup intercepted in Kano, 87.4 kilogrammes of skunk recovered in Katsina, and 18.085 kilogrammes seized in Osun State.
