Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have uncovered a clandestine methamphetamine production laboratory in **Njaba Local Government Area, **Imo State, and arrested a long-wanted suspected drug kingpin who had been on the run for more than a decade.

According to the agency, the illegal drug laboratory was discovered in the Isiozi Obiato community of Umuaka during an operation carried out on February 25, 2026.

NDLEA officers dismantled the facility and recovered 18.4 kilograms of methamphetamine, along with a large quantity of precursor chemicals and equipment used to manufacture the dangerous synthetic drug.

The development was confirmed in a statement issued by NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who said the operation forms part of the agency’s ongoing crackdown on illicit drug production and trafficking across Nigeria.

Babafemi explained that the laboratory had been secretly used to produce methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant commonly linked to organized drug networks.

NDLEA Arrests Wanted Drug Kingpin

In a related development, the agency announced the arrest of Reginald Peter Chidiebere, a suspected drug trafficker who had reportedly been hiding for 13 years.

Chidiebere was initially arrested in 2013 for importing cocaine into Nigeria and was later arraigned before the **Federal High Court of Nigeria in Lagos.

However, after being granted bail by Justice Ayokunle Faji, he failed to appear in court and disappeared.

His name resurfaced in February 2024 when NDLEA investigators linked him to the attempted importation of 49.70 kilograms of heroin from South Africa, intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

A follow-up operation at a Lagos hotel connected to the suspect led to the recovery of an additional 2.20 kilograms of heroin from one of his associates.

Authorities subsequently secured an interim forfeiture order on properties linked to him and froze several bank accounts connected to the drug network.

After years in hiding, Chidiebere eventually surrendered to NDLEA operatives on February 13, 2026.

He is currently in custody and is expected to face the earlier charges for jumping bail in 2013 as well as fresh charges related to the 2024 heroin trafficking case.