Nigeria: NDLEA Arrests Fugitive Suspected Drug Kingpin Linked to 49.7kg Heroin Seizure

What the report says

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency says it has arrested and returned to Nigeria Festus Ibewuike, a suspected drug trafficker it links to a major heroin seizure at Lagos’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport. According to the Premium Times report carried by AllAfrica, Ibewuike, also known as Chidibest Ibewuike and said to be 52, was detained at the airport in Cotonou, Benin Republic, on 2 September and handed over to Nigerian authorities on 4 September with help from INTERPOL units in Nigeria and Benin.

NDLEA said the suspect had been out of reach for more than two years while moving between Mozambique and Nigeria through Benin. The agency alleges he lived in Mozambique, where he ran a hotel business that served as a cover for drug trafficking. The arrest followed an investigation into 49.70kg of heroin seized in February 2024 at the Lagos airport cargo terminal, where the drugs were found hidden in cartons of metal-cutting machines. NDLEA described that bust as the airport’s largest single heroin seizure. It said the wider probe led to additional recoveries, frozen bank accounts and property forfeitures tied to the syndicate.

The report also says Ibewuike’s wife and several others were charged in connection with the case, with some already convicted while others remain on trial. NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa said the arrest showed that fleeing the country does not end prosecution efforts. The case highlights how Nigerian anti-narcotics authorities are using cross-border intelligence and international cooperation to pursue suspected traffickers beyond national borders.