Wanted drug kingpin arrested after 15 years

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 58-year-old fugitive drug suspect, Uzoma Ilomuanya, who had been on the wanted list of the agency and British authorities for more than 15 years.

Ilomuanya was apprehended at a location in Lagos on Monday, February 23, 2026, following an operation by officers of a Special Operations Unit of the agency.

According to a statement on Wednesday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, Ilomuanya had a history of drug-related offences in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.

Babafemi noted that Ilomuanya was first arrested in February 2003 and convicted in the United Kingdom for drug trafficking, adding that he was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment but was released after serving two years following a successful appeal.

He said the suspect was again arrested in the UK in July 2011 for drug-related offences and granted administrative bail, but fled to Nigeria.

In November 2018, Babafemi said the suspect was arrested in Nigeria by NDLEA operatives after two clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were discovered at his residence in Lagos.

The statement partly read, “In a significant blow to international drug trafficking networks, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a 58-year-old fugitive drug lord Uzoma Valentine Ilomuanya, who has been on the wanted list of NDLEA and British authorities for over 15 years. Ilomuanya was apprehended at a location in Lagos on Monday, 23rd February 2026, following a high-stakes, well-coordinated operation by officers of a Special Operations Unit of the Agency Punch