NDLEA Raids Lagos Hotel, Seizes ₦1.042 Billion Worth of Illicit Drugs, Arrests Suspects in Nationwide Crackdown

NDLEA Raids Lagos Hotel, Seizes ₦1.042 Billion Worth of Illicit Drugs, Arrests Suspects in Nationwide Crackdown

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered a major drug trafficking operation in Lagos, recovering illicit substances valued at over ₦1.042 billion from a hotel in Victoria Island.

During the operation, which lasted from Friday, April 25 to Saturday, April 26, 2025, operatives stormed The Hook Hotel, also known as Caesar Hotel and Caesar Lounge, located at 16 Waziri Ibrahim Street, Victoria Island, recovering 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 417.3 kilograms.

Three suspects — Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh — were arrested, while two others, identified as Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth, remain at large.

Authorities also seized items suspected to be proceeds from the illicit trade, including several luxury vehicles — a Toyota Prado Land Cruiser, a Toyota Sienna, a Volkswagen Delivery Van, a Kia Cerato, and a Grand Caravan Dodge — along with 74 new television sets, 10 used TV sets, and 13 refrigerators.

In a related operation in Jigawa State, NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, intercepted a Toyota Sienna vehicle along the Kano-Ringim Road in Gumel town in the early hours of Wednesday, April 23. Inside, they found 200,000 pills of Tramadol 250mg and 217,500 capsules of Pregabalin. Two suspects, Abba Ibrahim (28) and Shuaibu Umar (29), were arrested.

A follow-up operation in Kano led to the arrest of Jamilu Muhammad, 41, at his residence in the Mil Tara, Layin Technical area. There, officers discovered an additional 1,584,000 pills of Tramadol hidden inside a Nissan 18-seater bus and a room in his house, bringing the total haul to 2,001,500 pills.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives intercepted a shipment of 46 wraps of cocaine, weighing 547 grams, concealed in body cream and destined for Saudi Arabia. The seizure was made at a courier firm in Lagos on Wednesday, April 23. The same day, officers also uncovered 1.8 kilograms of pentazocine injection and 60 grams of bromazepam tablets bound for Canada.

At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, three Ghanaian women — Haziza Zubairu (42), Samirat Mustapha (43), and Jamila Salifu (26) — were arrested on Sunday, April 20, while attempting to smuggle 4.8 kilograms of Ghana Loud into Nigeria.

In Kano, a 60-year-old grandmother, Safiya Shamsu, was apprehended with 5.6 kilograms of skunk in the Samegu area of Kumbotso Local Government Area, while another suspect, Muntari Labaran, 35, was arrested with 100 litres of codeine syrup at Yelwa, Dala LGA.

Elsewhere in Edo State, NDLEA operatives destroyed 3,814.9 kilograms of cannabis on two farms in Ugbodu community, Ovia North East LGA, on Thursday, April 24. Three suspects — Samuel Samson (26), Daniel Peter (20), and Abel Edah (31) — were arrested during the raid.

The NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy continued nationwide, with sensitization lectures held for students at schools in Katsina, Kebbi, and Sokoto states, as well as outreach efforts in Anambra State and a courtesy visit to the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, HRM Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi, in Lagos.

Commending the efforts of the agency’s operatives, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the teams for maintaining a balance between reducing drug supply and addressing drug demand.