After 13 years in hiding, a notorious drug kingpin, Reginald Peter Chidiebere, has been taken into custody following the seizure of large consignments of cocaine and heroin linked to him by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

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. He jumped bail after the trial judge granted him bail in 2013 and has since remained at large.

In February 2024, his name featured prominently as one of the masterminds of the shipment of 49.70 kilogrammes 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 February 19, 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 kilogrammes 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 since 2024.

Following these developments, Chidiebere could no longer sustain himself in hiding, prompting his surrender to the agency on February 13, 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, February 25, 2026, dismantled a clandestine laboratory in Isiozi Obiato, Umuaka, Njaba Local Council of the state, where 18.4 kilogrammes 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, February 27, intercepted a Togolese woman, Hadiza Musa, who concealed 5,000 pills of tramadol in her luggage.

In a related operation, a total of 1,040 kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis, was recovered from an uncompleted building at Akodo village, Seaside Eleko, along the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos by operatives on Wednesday, February 25.

A suspect, Ashiru Bala, 45, was arrested with 1,499 bottles of codeine syrup at Lambu, Tafa LGA, Kano State, on Wednesday, February 25, while conveying the consignment in his Volkswagen Golf car marked CA 911 ABC.

Another suspect, Yahaya Usaini, 21, was nabbed on Friday, February 27, while transporting 87.4 kilogrammes of skunk in a Toyota Hiace bus with registration number KUJ 544 RL along the Zaria-Dutsinma Road, Katsina State.

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

About 637,600 pills of opioids, including tramadol, diazepam and exol-5, were recovered when NDLEA operatives, acting on credible intelligence on Thursday, February 26, intercepted a Mercedes-Benz vehicle marked KWL-607DC along the Bali-Suntai Road 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 kilogrammes of skunk.

While 499.2 kilogrammes of skunk was recovered at the Dei-Dei area of the FCT, Abuja, on Wednesday, February 25, 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, February 24.