In a related development, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested and repatriated one Festus Ibewuike, 52, a fugitive, aka Chidibest Ibewuike, over his alleged role in the 49.70kg heroin consignment seized at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, in 2024.
The agency said Ibewuike was arrested on September 2, 2026, at an airport in Cotonou, Benin Republic, after more than two years of efforts to apprehend him, it was reported.
He was later arrested and handed over to operatives of the NDLEA on September 4, following a collaboration with the Nigerian and Beninese bureaus of the International Criminal Police Organization, and returned to Nigeria for prosecution.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
The case dates back to February, 2024 when NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport intercepted 49.70kg of heroin concealed within cartons of metal-cutting machines at the cargo terminal’s Import Shed.
The seizure was the largest single consignment of heroin ever recorded at the airport, the agency said.
The NDLEA said the discovery was following a 12 days coordinated operation that led to the arrest of several alleged members of the trafficking network.
Confidence Ndidiamaka Ibewuike, Ibewuike’s wife, was among those arrested. Investigators claimed she regularly received drug consignments with the code “ND” on behalf of her husband.
The agency said investigations into the alleged syndicate also led to the freezing of 107 bank accounts and forfeiture of properties linked to the group.
Allegations against defendants who have not been convicted remain pending before the courts.
The investigation before Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos, saw some of the suspects arraigned in Charge No. FHC/L/205C/2024.
The NDLEA said that three defendants, Adinnu Felix Chinedu, Osita Emmanuel Obinna and Uzochukwu Frankline have been convicted and sentenced.
The agency said that three others, Chidiebere Reginald Peter, Confidence Ndidiamaka Ibewuike and Igbokwuputa Onyinye Ireene, are still being tried
Charged in absentia were Ibewuike, Osita Chidozie Cyril and a suspect identified only as Arinze, as they were not apprehended at the time.
NDLEA said Ibewuike fled to Mozambique and ran a hotel business there while evading Nigerian law enforcement.
Investigators also say that he sometimes traveled between Mozambique and Nigeria via the neighboring Benin Republic.
The agency said intelligence on his movements eventually led to his arrest in Cotonou on 2 September.
NDLEA said it later collaborated with INTERPOL authorities in Nigeria and Benin Republic to achieve the transfer of custody as a team of its operatives journeyed to Cotonou on September 4 to receive him.
The agency said the suspect, who changed his name from Chidibest Ibewuike to Festus Ibewuike, confirmed his identity during preliminary questioning after his return.
The NDLEA said it moved Ibewuike to its Central Exhibit Store in Ikoyi on Sept 5.
There, the agency said, he identified bags of heroin stamped with the “ND” marking that investigators had connected to him.
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These allegations are part of the NDLEA’s investigation and will be subjected to the judicial process.
The anti-narcotics agency also said its investigation showed Ibewuike was linked to an earlier case involving the seizure of 40.255kg of methamphetamine.
The case, FHC/L/203C/2013, was heard before Justice Hadiza Rabiu Shagari of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
The NDLEA said the proceedings involved one Chidi Ihedioha, who was finally convicted in 2023.
The agency did not say in its Wednesday statement that Ibewuike himself was convicted in connection with that earlier case.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), has described the arrest of Ibewuike as a major breakthrough in the agency’s bid to arrest wanted drug suspects.
“This arrest is a major breakthrough in our determination to track down and bring to justice every drug baron who thinks that fleeing Nigeria’s shores puts them beyond the reach of the law,” Marwa said.
He warned other suspects, wanted by the agency, that leaving the country would not stop efforts to bring them before the courts.
“As I have always promised, the long arm of the NDLEA will catch up with anybody engaged in this illicit trade, no matter how long it takes or how far they run,” he added.
“Festus Ibewuike ran for over two years hiding under a change of name and a new life abroad but today he is back in Nigeria to face the 49.70kg heroin seizure linked to his network,” Marwa said, referring to the latest case.
The arrest should serve as a warning to the other wanted suspects, he added, “The Agency will not relent until every one of you is brought to book.”
Marwa also lauded the cooperation between the Nigerian and Benin authorities, specifically the INTERPOL National Central Bureaus of both countries, leading to the arrest and transfer of Ibewuike to Nigeria.
