Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, who after hours of combing an 80-room new hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, with a total weight of 417.3 kg worth ₦1,042,500,000 in street value.
Three suspects, Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh, were arrested in the course of the operation at the five-storey hotel building between April 25 and 26, 2025, while two other suspects, Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth, are currently at large.
In a statement on Sunday, the Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters Abuja, Femi Babafemi, stated that items suspected to be proceeds of the 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, include: Toyota Prado Land Cruiser Jeep (Lagos AKD 472 OZ); Toyota Sienna Vehicle (Lagos KJA 79 HJ); and Volkswagen Delivery Van (Lagos).
In another big interdiction in Jigawa State with a follow-up operation in Kano, NDLEA agents acting on intelligence on April 23 intercepted consignments of opioids being trafficked from Kano to Niger Republic and Yobe State through Jigawa.
At around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, anti-narcotic agents on patrol seized the psychoactive substances being transported in a Toyota Sienna vehicle bearing the registration number ABJ 182 NW along Kano-Ringim Road in Gumel town, arresting two suspects: Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29.
The Sienna vehicle contained 200,000 250 mg tramadol pills and 217,500 pregabalin capsules. A quick follow-up operation in Kano resulted in the arrest of the supplier, 41-year-old Jamilu Muhammad, at his home in Mil Tara, Layin Technical Area of Kano, while another 1,584,000 tramadol 250mg pills stacked inside a Nissan 18-seater bus labelled DAL 372 XA and a room in his house were discovered and evacuated.
According to Babafemi, on Thursday, April 24, NDLEA operatives stormed two farms in Ugbodu community, Ovia North East LGA, Edo State, and detained three suspects: Samuel Samson, 26; Daniel Peter, 20; and Abel Edah, 31.
He stated that the War Against Drug Abuse, as well as social advocacy initiatives by NDLEA Commands, had been ongoing across the country for the previous 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,” he added.
While commending the officers and men of the Agency’s DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Jigawa, Edo, and Seme Commands for the arrests and seizures of the past week, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) also praised their counterparts in all commands across the country for ensuring a fair balance between their drug supply and drug demand reduction initiatives.
