17-Year Fugitive Drug Kingpin Captured by NDLEA
Ogbonnaya Kevin Jeff, a 59-year-old drug baron who has been on the run since 1985 after allegedly trafficking cocaine and heroin worth billions of naira globally, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
He was arrested following an Interpol Red Notice and intelligence from the National Intelligence Service of South Korea.
At a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, the NDLEA chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), announced that the arrest was made in the Ojo area of Lagos, where the suspect was hiding.
He stated that NDLEA operatives pursued Ogbonnaya following his name appearing in an Interpol red notice as a fugitive and information that came in from the National Intelligence Service of South Korea.
“The major development that warranted this special briefing pertains to the arrest of a drug lord who is wanted across the world as the leader of an international drug trafficking organisation.
“I am therefore pleased to announce this significant breakthrough in our efforts to dismantle drug trafficking syndicates operating within the country.
As we have said four years ago when we began the reform of the NDLEA, our prime targets are drug barons and other important figures that organise drug trafficking rings.
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“On Wednesday, 12th February 2025, we achieved that objective in the successful arrest of Ogbonnaya Kevin Jeff, a 59-year-old drug baron. The suspect was arrested at his hideout at No. 3, Ibukunoluwa Taiwo Close, off LASU Road, Lagos. He had been under the NDLEA investigation previously to his arrest.
“As a result, we have comprehensive intelligence on his activities, and incontrovertible facts that he is a notorious drug lord who recruited young Nigerians as couriers to smuggle illicit substances into the Republic of Korea (South Korea),” he said.
He told the press that the NDLEA records showed many Nigerians arrested abroad for drug-related offences were connected to Ogbonnaya.
NDLEA“Furthermore, we have established that he laundered drug proceeds through the importation of electronics and other goods. Following his arrest, a search of his residence now revealed multiple Nigerian international passports belonging to different individuals, many of which were having Korean Visas.
Some illicit substances were also recovered in a storehouse located in the back of his house,” he said.
In unmasking the suspect’s leadership role in the drug underworld, the NDLEA chief said that Ogbonnaya Kevin Jeff is not a regular domestic drug baron, but an international trafficker operating both from Nigeria and abroad.
He stated that the dossier on Jeff indicated that he served a one-year prison sentence in the Republic of Korea in 2007, was deported to Nigeria in 2008, yet continued his illicit trade and still actively participated in drug trafficking operations.
He declared, “At the moment, he is wanted in the Republic of Korea for multiple drug trafficking offences.
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