Wanted drug kingpin surrenders after 13 years in hiding

After 13 years on the run, suspected drug kingpin, Reginald Peter Chidiebere, has reportedly surrendered to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The Agency said his surrender follows the seizure of large consignments of cocaine and heroin linked to him at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos. A statement on Sunday […]

After 13 years on the run, suspected drug kingpin, Reginald Peter Chidiebere, has reportedly surrendered to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The Agency said his surrender follows the seizure of large consignments of cocaine and heroin linked to him at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos.

A statement on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s spokesperson, said the suspect was first arrested in 2013 for smuggling cocaine into Nigeria.

Babafemi said he was subsequently arraigned before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court, Lagos (Charge No. FHC/L/187c/2013), adding that after being granted bail that same year, Chidiebere jumped bail and disappeared.

According to the statement, in February 2024, his name resurfaced as a mastermind behind the shipment of 49.70 kilograms of heroin imported from South Africa, which was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport’s import shed.

The Agency added that a follow-up operation on February 19, 2024, at his hotel in the Okota area of Lagos, led to the recovery of an additional 2.20 kilograms of heroin from one of his guests.

Chidiebere went underground once more, but the agency secured an interim forfeiture of his hotel and froze all bank accounts traced to him.

According to NDLEA, unable to sustain himself in hiding following these financial restrictions, Chidiebere surrendered to the agency on February 13, 2026.

He is currently in custody and faces pending charges from his 2013 case, as well as fresh charges related to the 2024 heroin consignments.