A suspected drug kingpin has been arrested after spending 13 years in hiding.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) apprehended Reginald Peter Chidiebere over large consignments of cocaine and heroin allegedly linked to him.
In a statement issued on Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, 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 was granted bail but reportedly jumped bail and went underground.
According to the agency, his name resurfaced in February 2024 as one of the masterminds behind the importation of 49.70 kilogrammes of heroin from South Africa, following the interception of the consignment by NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Babafemi said a follow-up operation on February 19, 2024, at his Golden Platinum Hotel & Suites located in the Ago Palace Way area of Lagos led to the recovery of an additional 2.20 kilogrammes of heroin from one of his associates. Subsequently, the agency secured an interim forfeiture order on the hotel and froze bank accounts traced to him.
After years on the run, Chidiebere reportedly surrendered to the NDLEA on February 13, 2026, and is now in custody to face both the pending 2013 charges and fresh charges related to the 2024 heroin shipment.
In a related development, NDLEA operatives in Imo State dismantled a clandestine laboratory at Isiozi Obiato, Umuaka, in Njaba Local Government Area, where 18.4 kilogrammes of methamphetamine, precursor chemicals, and production equipment were recovered.
Meanwhile, at the Seme border, officers intercepted a Togolese woman, Hadiza Musa, allegedly concealing 5,000 tramadol pills in her luggage. In another operation the same day, operatives recovered 1,040 kilogrammes of skunk from an uncompleted building at Akodo village, Seaside Eleko, along the Ibeju-Lekki axis.
