13 years after jumping bail, NDLEA arrests notorious drug baron

Stanley Ihedigbo

Thirteen years after jumping bail and going underground, a notorious drug baron, Reginald Peter Chidiebere, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over his alleged involvement in large-scale cocaine and heroin shipments.

According to the Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, the drug lord was first arrested in 2013 over the shipment of cocaine into Nigeria and was subsequently arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in charge No.
FHC/L/187C/2923. However, he jumped bail and went into hiding after the trial judge granted him bail in 2013, and he has since remained at large.

In February 2024, his name featured prominently as one of the masterminds behind the shipment of 49.70 kilograms of heroin imported from South Africa, following the interception of the consignment by NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Lagos airport.

A follow-up operation was carried out on 19 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 agency, however, secured the interim forfeiture of his hotel and blocked all bank accounts traced to him in 2024.

Following these developments, Chidiebere could no longer sustain himself in hiding, prompting his surrender to the agency on 13 February 2026.

He has since been taken into custody to face his pending charges for which he jumped bail in 2013, as well as fresh charges based on the 2024 heroin consignments linked to him.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Imo State on Wednesday, 25 February 2026, dismantled a clandestine laboratory tucked away in Isiozi Obiato, Umuaka, Njaba Local Government Area of the state, where 18.4 kilograms of methamphetamine were recovered, along with a large quantity of precursor chemicals and equipment used in the production of the illicit substance.

At the Seme border in the Badagry area of Lagos, NDLEA officers at the departure tarmac on Friday, 27 February, intercepted a Togolese woman, Hadiza Musa, who concealed 5,000 pills of tramadol in her luggage.

A total of 1,040 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, were also recovered from an uncompleted building at Akodo village, Seaside Eleko, along the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos by operatives on Wednesday, 25 February.

A suspect, Ashiru Bala, 45, was arrested with 1,499 bottles of codeine syrup at Lambu, Tafa LGA, Kano State, on Wednesday, 25 February, while conveying the consignment in his Volkswagen Golf car marked CA 911 ABC. Another suspect, Yahaya Usaini, 21, was nabbed on Friday, 27 February, while transporting 87.4 kilograms of skunk in a Toyota Hiace bus with registration number KUJ 544 RL along the Zaria-Dutsinma Road, Katsina State.

In Osun State, two suspects, Adewale Fatunmise, 40, and Adebisi Korede, 25, were arrested by NDLEA operatives on Monday, 23 February, in connection with the seizure of 18.085 kilograms of skunk at the Aregbe area of Osogbo, the state capital.

No fewer than 637,600 pills of opioids, including tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5, were recovered when NDLEA operatives, acting on credible intelligence, intercepted a Mercedes-Benz vehicle marked KWL-607DC along the Bali-Suntai Road on Thursday, 26 February, while conveying the consignment to Baruwa in Gashaka LGA, Taraba State.

A similar interdiction operation at the Lankaviri Yorro area of the state led to the arrest of Musa Usman, 27, and the seizure of 126.022 kilograms of skunk.
While 499.2 kilograms of skunk were recovered at the Dei-Dei area of the FCT, Abuja, on Wednesday, 25 February, a suspect, Bulama Modu, 24, was intercepted in a commercial vehicle conveying 7,000 capsules of tramadol along the Bama-Konduga Road, Borno State, on Tuesday, 24 February.

The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities equally continued across commands and formations of the agency nationwide in the past week. Some of them include: a WADA sensitisation lecture for students and staff of Government Girls Science Secondary School, Tungan Magajiya, Niger State; Federal Government College, Odo Oru, Ogbomoso, Oyo State; Government Day Senior Secondary School, Fagam, Jigawa State; Government Science College, Esuk Ekpo Eyo, Cross River State; and Government Junior Secondary School, Rumfa College, Kano State, among others.

While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Seme, Lagos, Imo, Borno, Kano, Katsina, Taraba, Osun, and FCT Commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures recorded in the past week, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), equally praised their counterparts in all commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

Reacting to the eventual arrest of Chidiebere after 13 years on the run, Marwa said the agency remains resolute in dismantling criminal networks and bringing all offenders to justice. “I commend our officers and men for their persistence and professionalism in this operation,” he added.