From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) raided an 80-room hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, used as a front for distributing illicit substances.
After hours of searching, they recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent cannabis strain, weighing 417.3 kilograms and valued at ₦1,042,500,000 on the street.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi stated that three suspects—Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh—were arrested during the operation at the five-storey hotel, known as The Hook Hotel, Caesar Hotel, and Caesar Lounge, located at 16 Waziri Ibrahim Street, off Elsie Femi Pearse Street, between April 25 and 26. Two suspects, Noble Philip and Kenneth, remain at large.
Items suspected to be proceeds of drug trafficking, including a Toyota Prado Jeep (Lagos AKD 472 OZ), Toyota Sienna (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 and 10 used TV sets, and 13 refrigerators, were also seized.
In Jigawa and Kano, NDLEA operatives intercepted a Toyota Sienna (ABJ 182 NW) on 23 April 2025 along the Kano-Ringim road, Gumel, recovering 200,000 tramadol 250mg pills and 217,500 pregabalin capsules. Two suspects, Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29, were arrested. A follow-up operation in Kano led to the arrest of supplier Jamilu Muhammad, 41, with 1,584,000 additional tramadol pills found in a Nissan bus (DAL 372 XA) and his residence, totalling 2,001,500 pills.
On April 23, NDLEA’s Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) intercepted 46 wraps of cocaine (547 grams) hidden in body cream destined for Saudi Arabia and 1.8kg of pentazocine injection with 60 grams of bromazepam tablets headed to Canada at a Lagos courier firm.
On April 20, three Ghanaian women—Haziza Zubairu, 42, Samirat Mustapha, 43, and Jamila Salifu, 26—were arrested at the Seme border, Badagry, with 4.8kg of Ghana Loud.
In Kano, Safiya Shamsu, 60, was nabbed on April 25 with 5.6kg of skunk in Kumbotso LGA, and Muntari Labaran, 35, was arrested with 100 litres of codeine syrup in Dala LGA.
In Edo, 3,814.9kg of skunk was destroyed on two farms in Ugbodu, Ovia North East LGA, on April 24, with three suspects—Samuel Samson, 26, Daniel Peter, 20, and Abel Edah, 31—arrested.
NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) continued with sensitisation lectures at Dan-Doro Community Arabic Secondary School, Katsina; St. James Anglican School, Kebbi; Federal Government Girls College, Sokoto; and Oganiru age grade, Onitsha.
The Lagos Command visited the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, HRM Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi. NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd) commended the DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Jigawa, Edo, and Seme Commands for their efforts, praising their balance of drug supply and demand reduction initiatives.