The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA has announced the arrest of a 58-year-old fugitive drug lord, Uzoma Valentine Ilomuanya, who had been on the wanted list of Nigerian and British authorities for more than 15 years.
The agency described the arrest as a major breakthrough in the fight against international drug trafficking.
In a statement, the spokesman for the NDLEA, Mr. Femi Babafemi says, the drug lord was captured in Lagos on February 23, 2026, following a carefully coordinated operation by the agency’s Special Operations Unit, bringing to an end a prolonged manhunt that spanned two countries and over a decade.
His criminal trail, the NDLEA says, dates back to 2003, when he was first arrested and convicted in the United Kingdom for drug trafficking and sentenced to nine years in prison.
After serving about two years and winning an appeal, he was released, only to be arrested again in 2011 for similar offences.
Granted administrative bail, he absconded and fled to Nigeria.
In 2018, operatives of the anti-narcotics agency uncovered two clandestine methamphetamine laboratories linked to him, one in his hometown in Imo State and another in Lagos where nearly 78 kilograms of methamphetamine and production equipment were recovered.
Explaining further, Mr. Babafemi says, the fugitive charged before a Federal High Court in Lagos, he again jumped bail and disappeared, remaining on the run until this week’s arrest.
Reacting to the development, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, brigadier general, Buba Marwa, described the operation as a significant victory against drug cartels.
He warned that no fugitive can indefinitely evade justice, vowing that the agency will continue to strengthen intelligence-driven operations and international collaboration to prevent Nigeria from serving as a haven for global drug traffickers.
With the arrests of llomuanya’s arrest, the NDLEA vowed, the long arm of the law will eventually catch up with those who profit from the destruction of lives through the illicit drug trade.
Reporting By Nosa Aituamen