NDLEA Arrests International Drug Baron, Ogbonnaya Kevin, After 17-Year Manhunt

After a 17-year manhunt, the NDLEA apprehended drug lord Ogbonnaya Kevin, 59, in Lagos, halting his global drug trafficking activities.

On the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency's (NDLEA) blacklist for 17 years, Ogbonnaya Kevin, a 59-year-old infamous drug baron, was captured in his hideout in Lagos State's Ojo neighborhood.

A prominent member of an international drug trafficking organization, Ogbonnaya had planned several illegal narcotics shipments totaling billions of naira from South Korea to other nations. In the NDLEA's campaign against international drug trafficking, his capture represents a significant win.

At a news conference in Abuja on Monday, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, revealed the specifics of Ogbonnaya's capture.

He clarified that the agency's Special Operations Unit had located him after receiving information from the South Korean National Intelligence Service and an INTERPOL Red Notice.

Marwa declared, "The arrest of a drug lord who is wanted worldwide as the head of an international drug trafficking organization is the major development that warranted this special briefing." "On Wednesday, February 12, 2025, we succeeded in our goal by apprehending Ogbonnaya Kevin Jeff."

He disclosed that in order to carry illegal narcotics into South Korea, Ogbonnaya had been actively hiring young Nigerians as drug couriers. His network was implicated in the arrest of other Nigerians for drug-related offenses overseas.

Investigations revealed that Ogbonnaya used the importation of gadgets and other items to launder narcotics proceeds. Several Nigerian international passports with Korean visas were found during a search of his home, along with illegal drugs kept in the back.

"Ogbonnaya Kevin Jeff is an international trafficker who operates out of Nigeria and overseas; he is not your average domestic drug lord. According to his dossier, he was deported to Nigeria in 2008 after serving a year-long prison sentence in the Republic of Korea in 2007. He nevertheless carried on with his illegal business, continuing to be actively involved in narcotics trafficking to the Far East, according to Marwa.

The suspect was deported to Nigeria in 2008 after serving a one-year prison sentence in South Korea in 2007. But he went back to his illegal business, planning narcotics shipments from a distance.

Due to Ogbonnaya's numerous drug trafficking offenses, the Seoul Central District Court issued two arrest warrants for her in 2024.


Marwa described how Ogbonnaya used sophisticated concealment strategies to ship more than N1.4 billion worth of drugs to South Korea.

The suspect sent 6,051.06 grams of skunk, wrapped in dried chillies and jujube, to Kim Dong Wook, a Korean, at a specified address in Jinju City, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea, on October 5, 2023, at a site in Burkina Faso.

Air France delivered the item to Incheon Airport on October 19, 2023, at 7:20 a.m.

His main agents, including as foreign and domestic drug couriers who helped with shipments, have also been identified by authorities.

Marwa reiterated the NDLEA's commitment to preventing Nigeria from becoming into a major international drug trafficking hub.

Thus, Ogbonnaya's arrest serves as a reminder of our determination to cooperate with our foreign allies in order to prevent any drug lord from using Nigeria as a safe haven to traffic or distribute illegal drugs domestically or abroad.

With his arrest, NDLEA has reaffirmed its goal to fight the drug trade and protect national security while dealing a serious blow to global drug syndicates.