NDLEA Raids Lagos Hotel, Intercepts Drugs Worth Over ₦1 Billion

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OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have raided an 80-room hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, used as a cover for distributing illicit substances.

After hours of searching the premises, the operatives recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, with a total weight of 417.3 kilograms and a street value of One Billion Forty-Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira (₦1,042,500,000).

At least three suspects — Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh — were arrested during the operation at the five-storey building, carried out between Friday, 25th and Saturday, 26th April 2025. Two other suspects, Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth, are currently at large.

Items suspected to be proceeds of illicit drug trade recovered from the premises, which houses 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), Toyota Sienna Vehicle (Lagos KJA 79 HJ), Volkswagen Delivery Van (Lagos AAA 525 JE), Kia Cerato 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, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence seized consignments of opioids being moved from Kano to Niger Republic and Yobe State through Jigawa.

The psychoactive substances were being transported in a Toyota Sienna vehicle (registration number ABJ 182 NW) around 2:30a.m on Wednesday, 23rd April, along Kano-Ringim Road, Gumel Town.

Two suspects, Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29, were arrested.

Recovered from the vehicle were 200,000 pills of tramadol 250mg and 217,500 capsules of pregabalin.

A swift follow-up operation in Kano led to the arrest of the supplier, 41-year-old Jamilu Muhammad, at his residence in Mil Tara, Layin Technical area of Kano.

Additional seizures of 1,584,000 pills of tramadol 250mg were made from a Nissan 18-seater bus (registration number DAL 372 XA) and a room in his house, bringing the total number of 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 bound for Saudi Arabia at a logistics company in Lagos, operatives have again intercepted another shipment of 46 wraps of cocaine weighing 547 grams hidden in body cream.

The seizure was made on Wednesday, 23rd April, at a courier firm in Lagos. Another consignment intercepted the same day included 1.8kg of pentazocine injection and 60 grams of bromazepam tablets, destined for Canada.

At the Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos, three Ghanaian women were arrested on Sunday, 20th April, at the Gbaji checkpoint by NDLEA operatives while attempting to smuggle a combined 4.8 kilograms of Ghana Loud cannabis into Nigeria.

The suspects arrested are Haziza Zubairu, 42; Samirat Mustapha, 43; and Jamila Salifu, 26.

In Kano, a 60-year-old grandmother, Safiya Shamsu, was arrested on Friday, 25th April, in the Samegu area of Kumbotso LGA with 5.6 kilograms of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis.

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.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives raided two farms in Ugbodu community, Ovia North East LGA, Edo State, on Thursday, 24th April, destroying 3,814.9 kilograms of skunk.

Three suspects — Samuel Samson, 26; Daniel Peter, 20; and Abel Edah, 31 — were arrested during the operation.

The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands continued across the country over the past week.

Highlights include WADA sensitisation lectures 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 the Oganiru age grade in Onitsha, Anambra State.

The Lagos State Strategic Command of NDLEA also paid a WADA advocacy visit to the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, HRM Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi, among others.

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