The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recovered 589 bags of Canadian loud, a strong strain of cannabis with a total weight of 417.3kg worth N1,042,500,000 in street value, after its operatives raided an 80-room hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, used as a cover for distributing illicit substances.
This disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, April 27, 2025, where he noted that the recoveries were made hours after combing the rooms in the hotel.
Babafemi revealed that 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, 25th and Saturday, 26th April 2025, while two other suspects: Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth, are currently at large.
He said that 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, include: Toyota Prado Landcruiser Jeep (Lagos AKD 472 OZ) and Toyota Sienna Vehicle (Lagos KJA 79 HJ).
Others are a Volkswagen Delivery Van (Lagos AAA 525 JE), a Kia Ceranto Car (Lagos BDG 860 GQ), a Grand Caravan Dodge (Lagos APP 847 YF), 74 new TV sets, 10 used TV sets, and 13 refrigerators, among others.
Other interceptions
In another major interdiction in Jigawa state with a follow up operation in Kano, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence on Wednesday 23rd April seized consignments of opioids being moved from Kano to Niger Republic and Yobe state through Jigawa.
- The psychoactive substances were being moved in a Toyota Sienna vehicle marked ABJ 182 NW at about 2:30 am on Wednesday along Kano- Ringim road, Gumel town, when anti-narcotic officers on patrol intercepted them with two suspects: Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29, arrested.
- Babafemi said that 200,000 pills of tramadol 250mg and 217,500 capsules of pregabalin were recovered from the Sienna vehicle.
- He said a swift follow up operation in Kano 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 recovered opioids to 2,001,500 pills.
The NDLEA spokesman noted that barely a week after the 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, 23rd April, at a courier firm in Lagos. Another consignment intercepted same day includes: 1.8kg pentazocine injection and 60 grams bromazepam tablets heading to Canada.
More arrests in Lagos, Kano
At the Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos, three Ghanaian ladies were on Sunday, 20th April arrested at the Gbaji checkpoint by NDLEA operatives while attempting to smuggle a combined 4.8 kilograms of Ghana Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, into Nigeria. The suspects arrested include: Haziza Zubairu, 42; Samirat Mustapha, 43; and Jamila Salifu, 26.
In Kano, a 60-year-old grandma, Safiya Shamsu, was nabbed on Friday, 25th April 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.
He also noted that a total of 3,814.9kg of skunk was destroyed on two farms in Ugbodu community, Ovia North East LGA, Edo state, on Thursday, 24th April, when NDLEA operatives raided the plantations where three suspects: Samuel Samson, 26; Daniel Peter, 20; and Abel Edah, 31, were arrested.
