NDLEA Raids Lagos Hotel, Recovers N1.042bn Illicit Drugs, Intercepts Another Saudi-bound Cocaine

An 80-room new hotel in Victoria Island Lagos used as cover for distributing illicit substances has been raided by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), who after hours of combing the rooms recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis with a total weight of 417.3 kilograms worth ₦1,042,500,000 only in street value.

At least, three suspects: Eze Ayitu; Ofuokwu Samuel; and Emmanuel Ameh, were arrested in the course of the operation at the five-storey hotel building between Friday and Saturday April 25-26, 2025, while two other suspects: Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth, are currently at large.

A statement signed by the NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, said items suspected to be proceeds of illicit drug trade recovered from the premises housing The Hook Hotel also known as Caesar Hotel and Caesar Lounge located at 16, Waziri Ibrahim street, off Elsie Femi Pearse street, Victoria Island, Lagos, included: Toyota Prado Landcruiser Jeep (Lagos AKD 472 OZ); Toyota Sienna Vehicle (Lagos KJA 79 HJ); Volkswagen Delivery Van (Lagos AAA 525 JE); Kia Ceranto Car (Lagos BDG 860 GQ); Grand Caravan Dodge (Lagos APP 847 YF); 74 new TV sets; 10 used TV sets; and 13 refrigerators, among others.

In another major interdiction in Jigawa state with a follow-up operation in Kano State, NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence on Wednesday, April 23, seized consignments of opioids being moved from Kano to Niger Republic and Yobe State through Jigawa State.

The psychoactive substances were being moved in a Toyota Sienna vehicle marked ABJ 182 NW at about 2:30am on Wednesday along Kano-Ringim Road in Gumel town when anti-narcotic officers on patrol intercepted them with two suspects: Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29 arrested.

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Recovered from the Sienna vehicle were 200,000 pills of tramadol 250mg and 217,500 capsules of pregabalin. A swift follow-up operation in Kano State led to the arrest of the supplier, 41-year-old Jamilu Muhammad, at his residence located at Mil Tara, Layin Technical area of Kano while additional 1,584,000 pills of tramadol 250mg stacked inside a Nissan 18-seater bus marked DAL 372 XA and a room in his house were discovered and evacuated. This brings the total number of the recovered opioids to 2,001,500 pills.

Barely a week after NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) uncovered 20 parcels of cocaine concealed inside religious books going to Saudi Arabia at a logistics company in Lagos, the operatives have again intercepted another shipment of 46 wraps of cocaine weighing 547grams hidden in body cream going to the Middle East country. The seizure was made on Wednesday, April 23, at a courier firm in Lagos. Another consignment intercepted same day included 1.8kg pentazocine injection and 60grams bromazepam tablets heading to Canada.

At the Seme border area of Badagry in Lagos Statw, three Ghanaian ladies were on Sunday, 2
April 20, arrested at the Gbaji checkpoint by NDLEA operatives while attempting to smuggle combined 4.8kilograms of Ghana Loud, a strong strain of cannabis into Nigeria. The suspects arrested included Haziza Zubairu, 42; Samirat Mustapha, 43; and Jamila Salifu, 26.

Also, in Kano, a 60-year-old grandma Safiya Shamsu was on Friday, April 25, nabbed at Samegu area of Kumbotso LGA with 5.6kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, while another suspect Muntari Labaran, 35, was taken into custody following the seizure of 100 litres of codeine syrup from him at Yelwa area of Dala LGA of the State.

A total of 3,814.9kg skunk was destroyed on two farms in Ugbodu community, Ovia North East LGA, Edo State on Thursday, April 24, when NDLEA operatives raided the plantations where three suspects: Samuel Samson, 26; Daniel Peter, 20; and Abel Edah, 31, were arrested.

The statement added that the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week. Some of them include: WADA sensitisation lecture delivered to students and staff of Dan-Doro Community Arabic Secondary School, Doro, Katsina; St. James Anglican School, Badariya, Kebbi; Federal Government Girls College, Tambuwal, Sokoto; and members of Oganiru age grade, Onitsha, Anambra, while the Lagos State Strategic Command of NDLEA paid WADA advocacy visit to the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, HRM Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi, among others.

While commending the officers and men of DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Jigawa, Edo and Seme Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.