• Arrests four cartel members, declares 11 others wanted
• Blocks 107 bank accounts, N119m, seals hotel, mansions

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 45 blocks of heroin with a total weight of 49.70kg, making it the highest seizure of the illicit substance at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

The anti-drug agency also dismantled and arrested four cartel members of an organised criminal organisation, which specialises in trafficking heroin across Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, Europe, and America.

Briefing newsmen in Lagos, yesterday, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), said the arrest followed a well-coordinated 12-day operation.

He explained that the briefing was in line with the agency’s policy of transparency in its renewed fight against drug traffickers. Marwa said the operation began on February 10, when NDLEA operatives of MMIA Command intercepted a suspicious package at the import shed of Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) at the airport’s cargo terminal.

“The consignment was concealed in 15 cartons of 2300-watt metal cutting machines. Each carton was stocked with three blocks of high-grade heroin. In total, we recovered 45 blocks of the illicit substance with a total weight of 49.70kg.

“After the discovery, we were methodical and meticulous in our investigations. We started with the arrest of the freight agent whose name is Olowolagba Wasiu Babatunde. It turned out that he was hired for clearing services by Mattpee Logistics, a company operated by one Kola, resident in South Africa.

“Next, we conducted a follow up operation at the company’s warehouse in the Shogunle area of Oshodi, Lagos, and arrested the warehouse manager, whose name is Ajayi Imole Moses. Thereafter, we set up an ambush for the expected receiver of the consignment who was duly arrested when he showed up for collection.

“This receiver, whose name is Adinnu Felix Chinedu, confessed during interrogation that he is the main distributor for a drug syndicate, whose membership is spread across Nigeria. He admitted that he usually conveyed the consignment to a dedicated warehouse located in Ayobo.

“That place served as a workshop where he would dismantle the consignment and remove the drugs from the machines. Thereafter, he would wait for a list of various recipients to be forwarded to him from South Africa by the head of the criminal group.”

Explaining further, the NDLEA boss said: “Our operatives did due diligence by conducting a thorough search of the warehouse, which led to the recovery of 56 similar cartons of the cutting machines that were used previously as modes of concealment to ferry heroin into Nigeria.

“At this point, it was clear that we were dealing with a syndicate that operates in other countries. By the time we were done with exploring the various leads we had, we unravelled an organised criminal network that operates in South Africa, Mozambique, Nigeria and parts of Europe and America.

“This syndicate has a wide network in Nigeria because the consignments we seized were marked with several codenames, showing that they belonged to different members of this organised criminal group. Furthermore, in our follow-up operation, we uncovered from the suspect a long list of receivers of illicit drugs.

“In the end, we were able to identify the kingpin of the syndicate here in Nigeria, and his name is Reginald Peter Chidiebere. Our investigations showed that he owns the Golden Platinum Hotel and Suite, located at 16 Reginald Peter Chidiebere Street, Hope Estate, Ago Palace.”

Marwa said several days of surveillance on the hotel culminated in a raid on Monday, February 19, in which another drug mule, Igboanugo Chukwuebuka Thankgod, was found in possession of two parcels of 2.2kg heroin with codes similar to the ones found on the seized drug shipment, bringing the total seizure to 51.90 kilogrammes.

“He readily confessed that he was invited by Reginald Peter Chidiebere to the hotel on Sunday, February 18. He was lodged in one of the rooms and was later summoned by the receptionist to meet a guest, from whom Chidiebere informed him over the phone to receive a package. This sequence of action was confirmed by a review of the CCTV at the hotel,” he said.

He explained that preemptive actions taken against members of the syndicate include freezing 107 bank accounts associated with 14 members of the cartel as well as N119,582,928.31 found in some of the already traced bank accounts. He added that the hotel and a mansion linked to the head of the syndicate in Nigeria, Chidiebere, and another mansion linked to the head of the syndicate in Mozambique, Festus Ibewuike, located in the Ago Palace area, had already been marked for forfeiture to the Federal Government.

He said the measure yielded further fruit on Thursday February 22, when a female member of the syndicate and wife of Festus Ibewuike, Confidence Ndidiamaka, who is one of those that would collect part of the consignment from Chinedu, was arrested at Ago Palace area.

“When they were brought face to face, he (Chinedu) immediately identified her as one of the members of the criminal syndicate who had received similar packages of heroin that bore the syndicate’s logo from him, on two different occasions. Though she denied knowing Chinedu or receiving anything from him before, investigation revealed how her husband (Ibewuike) who is a top kingpin and currently residing in Mozambique, used to send drug consignments to her through Chinedu.

“With pictorial evidence of different parcels with different codes, and using other methodologies, we were able to confirm several instructions from her husband to her regarding illicit drug shipments already collected before. A search was promptly conducted in their residence, located at the Ago Palace area, Festac Town, where a Toyota Venza car was recovered as well as several documents, including bank and property documents belonging to Ibewuike.”

Their mansion in the Ago Palace area has also been marked for forfeiture to the Federal Government.
As part of efforts to ensure all those involved are brought to book, Marwa assured:
“NDLEA has shared comprehensive intelligence with our South African counterparts for necessary action regarding the other members of the group living in that country.”

He noted: “There is a parallel between this seizure and the September 18, 2022 seizure of 2,139.5kg cocaine in an Ikorodu warehouse. That was the biggest singular cocaine seizure in the history of NDLEA. This current bust is the largest single heroin seizure at the MMIA so far.”