Wanted Drug Baron Nabbed In Lagos Hotel Sting Operation

A wanted drug baron, operating under the cover of a businessman and hotelier, Frank Chijioke Ibemesi, also known as Chisco Bee, has been arrested by operatives from a Special Operations Unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The arrest followed weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance on his criminal activities.

The 42-year-old Ibemesi, MD/CEO of Franc CJ Ibemesi Nig Ltd, was arrested at his Daisy Garden Hotel, 66-68 Agbeke Street, Ago Palace Way, Isolo, Lagos, in the early hours of Saturday, 15th November 2025. He was then taken to his warehouse at 7 Pius Ezeobi Street, off Ago Palace Way, Isolo, where 42 jumbo bags and four cartons of ‘Loud’, a strain of cannabis weighing 1,762.8 kilograms, were recovered. Also seized from him at the point of his arrest were $11,600 US dollars; £2,000 British Pounds; €2,200 Euros; and 50 Canadian dollars, all in cash.

In a separate operation, an attempt by a drug syndicate operating in the Orita-Apeje, Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve, Ife South LGA, Osun State, to load and distribute large quantities of processed skunk, another strain of cannabis, was thwarted on Tuesday, 11th November. NDLEA operatives, after days of surveillance in the forest, seized two trucks being used to transport the illicit consignments—a Volvo truck marked WWR 29 XA and a Mercedes truck with registration number AWK 713 YZ—and arrested seven suspects. Those in custody are: Lucky Abiodun; Julius Amos; Victor Ngbikili; Sunday Oduegwu; Ibrahim Akanni; Eze Godstime; and Fred Ifeanyichukwu.

A total of 1,902.1 kilograms of skunk were recovered in parts of Edo State. While 184.1kg was recovered along a bush path at Oza/Igbanke Road, Igbanke, in Orhionmwon LGA on Thursday, 13th November, 672kg was evacuated from Utese forest, Ovia North East LGA on Friday, 14th November. A further 494kg was recovered from a Mercedes Benz car, registration DE311BEN, along the Benin-Akure road, where a suspect, Felix Edah, 45, was arrested the same day. Similarly, Lucky Abagha, 51, was nabbed in another Mercedes Benz car, marked JJJ 56 JW, conveying 552kg.

Meanwhile, four suspects—Micheal Okoh; Offor Agada; Raphael Nkemjika; and Nwabueze Franklin—were arrested with 68kg of skunk and 3.150kg of methamphetamine along the Ijebu-Ode expressway in Ogun State. Danjuma Tukura, 50, was nabbed with 172kg of skunk in the Sunkani area of Ardo Kola LGA, Taraba State, on Friday, 14th November, and Wisdom Titus, 24, was caught with 84kg of the same substance in the Takum area of the state.

In Adamawa State, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 14th November, recovered 396,000 capsules of tramadol from a suspect, Ahmed Isyaku Nda, 50, at Aliyu Mustapha International Airport, Yola. Separately, 785kg of skunk was evacuated from the warehouse of a drug dealer currently at large in Asob Maraba Karu, Nasarawa State.

In Lagos, two suspects—Jamiu Kunle Kardoso and Oriyomi Waliu—were arrested on Friday, 14th November, with 130 pouches of ‘Canadian Loud’ weighing 65.150kg in the Surulere area. The same day, Taofeek Moraina was nabbed with 282 blocks of ‘Ghana Loud’ with a gross weight of 141kg at Otto, in the Oyingbo area of Lagos.

In Kwara State, NDLEA operatives on Thursday, 13th November, intercepted a truck marked T-0262KT along the Ilorin-Jebba expressway conveying 197 blocks of skunk weighing 78.565kg and 155 cartons of rubber solution. The truck driver, Umar Yakubu, was taken into custody. In another operation, a commercial bus with registration number KJA-657CY was intercepted at Eiyenkonrin, Ilorin, on Wednesday, 12th November, with 20 blocks of skunk concealed in a 50-litre jerry can; the driver, Ibrahim Bello, was arrested.

In like manner, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities over the past week. These included WADA sensitisation lectures for students and staff of Government Day Secondary School, Birnin Ruwa Gusau, Zamfara; Holy Ghost Secondary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; Government Science Technical School, Ringim, Jigawa; City Girls Secondary School, Enugu; Randle Junior Secondary School, Surulere, Lagos; and Anglican Girls Grammar School, Obalende, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, among others.

While commending the officers and men of the SOU, Osun, Lagos, Edo, Ogun, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa, and Kwara Commands for the arrests and seizures, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.