Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
IN a significant victory against organised crime, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has apprehended an alleged cocaine kingpin who had been evading justice for 13 years.
The arrest came as part of a wider offensive that also saw the dismantling of a clandestine methamphetamine lab in Imo State and the interception of large-scale drug shipments across the country.
Reginald Peter Chidiebere, who had been wanted in connection with multiple cocaine and heroin consignments, finally surrendered to the NDLEA on 13th February 2026.
He was originally arrested in 2013 following the seizure of substantial cocaine shipments at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.
He was subsequently arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on drug trafficking charges. However, after being granted bail in 2013, he went on the run and remained at large for more than a decade.
His name resurfaced in February 2024 when NDLEA operatives intercepted 49.7 kilogrammes of heroin imported from South Africa at the Lagos airport cargo shed. A follow-up operation on 19th February 2024 led officers to his Golden Platinum Hotel & Suites in Okota, Lagos, where an additional 2.2 kilogrammes of heroin was recovered from one of his associates.
Following that operation, the NDLEA secured an interim forfeiture order on the hotel and froze bank accounts linked to Chidiebere. Under mounting legal and financial pressure, he eventually handed himself in to authorities.
He now remains in custody and will face both the outstanding 2013 charges and new charges relating to the 2024 heroin seizures.
In a separate operation on 25th February 2026, NDLEA operatives dismantled a covert laboratory hidden in Isiozi Obiato, Umuaka, in Njaba Local Government Area of Imo State. The raid uncovered 18.4 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, alongside a significant quantity of precursor chemicals and manufacturing equipment. The discovery has raised fresh concerns over the rise of domestic synthetic drug production in Nigeria.
The agency’s intensified crackdown also resulted in further arrests and seizures across several states.
At the Seme border in the Badagry area of Lagos, NDLEA officers on 27th February intercepted a Togolese woman, Hadiza Musa, who allegedly concealed 5,000 tramadol pills in her luggage.
On 25th February, operatives recovered 1,040 kilogrammes of skunk—a potent strain of cannabis—from an uncompleted building in Akodo village, Seaside Eleko, along the Ibeju-Lekki corridor of Lagos.
In Kano State, a 45-year-old suspect, Ashiru Bala, was arrested in Lambu, Tafa LGA, with 1,499 bottles of codeine syrup hidden in a Volkswagen Golf vehicle. Similarly, along the Zaria–Dutsinma Road in Katsina State, a 21-year-old suspect, Yahaya Usaini, was apprehended on 27th February while transporting 87.4 kilogrammes of skunk in a Toyota Hiace bus.
This string of coordinated operations underscores the NDLEA’s reinvigorated drive to dismantle drug trafficking syndicates and curb the spread of illegal substances across Nigeria.
With a long-sought fugitive back in custody, a meth lab taken offline, and vast quantities of narcotics seized nationwide, the agency says it remains steadfast in its battle against drug trafficking and abuse.
Legal proceedings against the suspects are expected to begin in the coming weeks.
