NDLEA has stormed The Hook Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos and seized ₦1 billion worth of illicit drugs.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that the operatives from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have raided an 80-room hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, which was being used as a front for distributing illicit substances.
After hours of searching the rooms, the NDLEA recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing a total of 417.3 kilograms. The seized drugs have an estimated street value of ₦1,042,500,000, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA Director of Media & Advocacy, discloed in a statement on Sunday.
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Three suspects include: Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh, were arrested during the operation, which took place between Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26, 2025. Two other individuals, Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth, are currently on the run.
The statement said, “Items suspected to be proceeds of illicit drug trade recovered from the premises housing 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 Ceranto 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 on Wednesday 23rd April seized consignments of opioids being moved from Kano to Niger Republic and Yobe state through Jigawa.
“The psychoactive substances were being moved in a Toyota Sienna vehicle marked ABJ 182 NW at about 2:30am on Wednesday along Kano- Ringim road, Gumel town when anti-narcotic officers on patrol intercepted them with two suspects: Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29 arrested.
“Recovered from the Sienna 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 located at Mil Tara, Layin Technical area of Kano while additional 1,584,000 pills of tramadol 250mg stacked inside a Nissan 18-seater bus marked DAL 372 XA and a room in his house were discovered and evacuated.”
“This brings the total number of the recovered opioids to 2,001,500 pills,” the statement added.
Just a week after NDLEA officers from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) intercepted 20 parcels of cocaine concealed inside religious books bound for Saudi Arabia, the agency said it made another significant drug bust.
According to the agency, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, its operatives intercepted a shipment of 46 wraps of cocaine, weighing 547 grams, hidden in body cream destined for the Middle East country. Additionally, the same day, another consignment was seized at a courier firm in Lagos, including 1.8 kg of pentazocine injection and 60 grams of bromazepam tablets, both heading to Canada.
In the Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos, three Ghanaian women were arrested on Sunday, April 20, 2025, at the Gbaji checkpoint while attempting to smuggle 4.8 kg of Ghana Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, into Nigeria. The suspects, Haziza Zubairu (42), Samirat Mustapha (43), and Jamila Salifu (26), were taken into custody.
Meanwhile, in Kano, a 60-year-old woman, Safiya Shamsu, was arrested on Friday, April 25, 2025, in the Samegu area of Kumbotso Local Government Area (LGA) with 5.6 kg of skunk, a type of cannabis. Another suspect, Muntari Labaran (35), was apprehended in Yelwa, Dala LGA, with 100 litres of codeine syrup.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives destroyed 3,814.9 kg of skunk on Thursday, April 24, 2025, after raiding two farms in Ugbodu, Ovia North East LGA. Three individuals—Samuel Samson (26), Daniel Peter (20), and Abel Edah (31)—were arrested during the raid.
