Omotayo Adigun
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have dismantled a sophisticated drug distribution network operating under the guise of an 80-room hotel in the upscale Victoria Island area of Lagos.
Following an extensive search of the premises, NDLEA officers recovered a substantial quantity of illicit substances, including 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing a total of 417.3 kilograms with an estimated street value of ₦1,042,500,000.
The operation, conducted between April 25 and 26, 2025, at the five-storey building housing The Hook Hotel, also known as Caesar Hotel and Caesar Lounge, located at 16 Waziri Ibrahim Street, off Elsie Femi Pearse street, resulted in the arrest of three suspects: Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh. Authorities are currently pursuing two additional suspects identified as Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth, who remain at large.
In a statement released on Sunday by the Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA Headquarters Abuja, Femi Babafemi, a significant cache of items suspected to be proceeds from the illicit drug trade were recovered from the hotel premises. These include a Toyota Prado Landcruiser Jeep (Lagos AKD 472 OZ), a Toyota Sienna Vehicle (Lagos KJA 79 HJ), 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 brand new television sets, 10 used television sets, and 13 refrigerators, among other items.
In a separate major interdiction in Jigawa State, with a follow-up operation in Kano, NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, intercepted consignments of opioids being transported from Kano to Niger Republic and Yobe State via Jigawa on April 23. The psychoactive substances were concealed within a Toyota Sienna vehicle marked ABJ 182 NW, which was intercepted at approximately 2:30 am along the Kano-Ringim road in Gumel town.
Two suspects, Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29, were apprehended during the operation. The search of the Sienna vehicle yielded 200,000 pills of tramadol 250mg and 217,500 capsules of pregabalin.
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A swift follow-up operation in Kano led to the arrest of the alleged supplier, 41-year-old Jamilu Muhammad, at his residence in the Mil Tara, Layin Technical area of Kano. An additional 1,584,000 pills of tramadol 250mg were discovered stacked inside a Nissan 18-seater bus marked DAL 372 XA and within a room in his house, subsequently seized by the NDLEA. This brings the total number of recovered opioid pills in this operation to an astounding 2,001,500.
Furthermore, Babafemi reported the destruction of 3,814.9 kilograms of skunk on two farms in the Ugbodu community, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State on Thursday, April 24.
NDLEA operatives raided the plantations and arrested three suspects: Samuel Samson, 26; Daniel Peter, 20; and Abel Edah, 31.
The NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities across the nation in the past week. These included sensitization lectures delivered to students and staff of various educational institutions in Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Anambra states, as well as advocacy visits by the Lagos State Strategic Command of NDLEA to traditional rulers, such as the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, HRM Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi.
Commending the officers and men of the NDLEA commands in DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Jigawa, Edo, and Seme for their successful arrests and seizures, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), also praised their counterparts nationwide for maintaining a balance between drug supply and demand reduction efforts.