….As Marwa vows NDLEA won’t relent until all fleeing suspects are brought to book
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Wednesday , said it has successfully secured the arrest and repatriation of Festus Ibewuike, alias Chidibest Ibewuike, a fugitive drug kingpin who had evaded arrest for over two years.
Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, in a statement, said the arrest followed the interception of the single largest heroin consignment ever recorded at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Ibewuike, who relocated to Mozambique where he ran a hotel business as a front, was one of three suspects declared wanted and charged in absentia after operatives of the Agency’s MMIA Strategic Command, in a coordinated 12-day operation in February 2024, intercepted 49.70kg of heroin concealed in cartons of metal-cutting machines at the Import Shed of the airport’s cargo terminal.
“The operation, which led to the arrest of key members of the syndicate, including his wife, Confidence Ndidiamaka Ibewuike, who routinely received drug-laden parcels marked with the code “ND” on his behalf, also resulted in the freezing of 107 bank accounts and the forfeiture of properties linked to the cartel”, according to the NDLEA Spokesman.
