NDLEA BRINGS SUSPECTED HEROIN TRAFFICKING KINGPIN BACK TO NIGERIA

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested and repatriated 52-year-old Festus Ibewuike, also known as Chidibest Ibewuike, over his alleged involvement in the trafficking of 49.70kg of heroin seized at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos in 2024. Ibewuike, who had been on the run for more than two years, was arrested at the airport in Cotonou, Benin Republic, on September 2, 2026, following intelligence that led authorities to his location.

The NDLEA said Ibewuike had relocated to Mozambique, where he reportedly operated a hotel business which the agency alleged was used as a cover for his activities. He was said to have moved between Mozambique and Nigeria through Benin Republic while evading arrest. Following his arrest, NDLEA operatives travelled to Cotonou and took custody of him on September 4 through cooperation between the Nigerian and Beninese INTERPOL National Central Bureaus before bringing him back to Nigeria.

The case dates back to February 2024, when NDLEA operatives attached to the Strategic Command at the Lagos airport intercepted 49.70kg of heroin during a 12-day operation. The drugs were concealed inside cartons containing metal-cutting machines at the import shed of the airport’s cargo terminal. The agency described the seizure as the largest single consignment of heroin ever intercepted at the Lagos airport, and subsequent investigations allegedly linked the shipment to Ibewuike and a wider trafficking network.

The investigation also led to the arrest of several members of the alleged syndicate, including Ibewuike’s wife, Confidence Ndidiamaka Ibewuike, who the NDLEA said routinely received drug-laden parcels on behalf of her husband. The agency also recovered another 2.2kg of heroin connected to the case, bringing the total quantity seized from the syndicate to 51.90kg. Authorities further froze 107 bank accounts and secured the forfeiture of properties allegedly connected to the drug network.

The NDLEA said Ibewuike was among suspects declared wanted and charged in absentia over the case, while some other members of the alleged syndicate have already been convicted and sentenced. The agency said the suspect would now face prosecution over his alleged role in the trafficking operation, describing his arrest and return to Nigeria as a major breakthrough in efforts to dismantle the network behind the large heroin shipment.