Nigeria drug agency arrests fugitive kingpin after 13 years on the run

By Zainab Uzomah|Abuja

Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency says it has arrested a wanted drug trafficker who had been in hiding for more than a decade, as it reported a series of major seizures across the country.

In a statement signed by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi said Reginald Peter Chidiebere surrendered to its operatives on 13 February 2026, following years of investigations linking him to large cocaine and heroin shipments through Lagos.

Mr Chidiebere was first arrested in 2013 over cocaine trafficking and later arraigned before the Federal High Court in Lagos. He jumped bail thesame year and remained at large for 13 years.

According to the NDLEA, he resurfaced in February 2024 as one of the alleged masterminds behind the importation of 49.7kg of heroin from South Africa, intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. A follow-up raid on a hotel linked to him in the city led to the recovery of a further 2.2kg of heroin from a guest, after which the suspect went underground.

The agency said it secured an interim forfeiture of the hotel and froze bank accounts connected to Mr Chidiebere. Investigators believe mounting pressure forced him to surrender. He is now in custody and expected to face both the original charges from 2013 and new charges linked to the 2024 heroin seizures.

In a separate operation, NDLEA officers in Imo State dismantled a clandestine drug laboratory in Isiozi Obiato, Njaba Local Government Area, where18.4kg of methamphetamine was recovered alongside precursor chemicals and production equipment.

The agency also reported multiple interceptions nationwide. At the Seme border near Lagos, officers arrested a Togolese woman with 5,000 tramadol pills concealed in her luggage. In Lagos State, more than one tonne of cannabis, locally known as skunk, was recovered from an uncompleted building in the Ibeju-Lekki area.

Further arrests were made in Kano, Katsina, Osun, Taraba, Borno and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, with large quantities of opioids, cannabis and codeine syrup seized during the operations.

The NDLEA said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign also continued nationwide, with sensitisation programmes held in secondary schools across several states.

Commending the officers involved, the chairmanof the agency, Mohamed Buba Marwa, said the arrest of Mr Chidiebere demonstrated the agency’s resolve to dismantle drug networks. He added that the NDLEA would continue to pursue both drug supply reduction and public education efforts.