NDLEA Raids Lagos Hotel, Recovers N1.042 Billion Worth of Drugs
…Seizes Over Two Million Tramadol Pills in Nationwide Crackdown
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a major drug distribution network in Lagos and seized over two million opioid pills in Jigawa and Kano States, in addition to intercepting cocaine shipments destined for Saudi Arabia and arresting cross-border traffickers.
According to a statement signed by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at the NDLEA, the most dramatic of the operations took place between Friday, 25th and Saturday, 26th April 2025, when NDLEA operatives stormed a newly built 80-room hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, uncovering it as a hub for illicit drug distribution.
After hours of intensive search within the five-storey building, agents recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing a total of 417.3 kilogrammes and valued at One Billion Forty-Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N1,042,500,000) in street price.
Three suspects – Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh – were arrested during the raid on the hotel, known as The Hook Hotel, also operating under the names Caesar Hotel and Caesar Lounge, located at 16 Waziri Ibrahim Street, off Elsie Femi Pearse Street, Victoria Island.
Two additional suspects, identified as Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth, are currently on the run.
Items believed to be proceeds from the illicit drug trade recovered from the premises include a 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 brand new television sets, 10 used TV sets, and 13 refrigerators, among other valuables.
In a separate interdiction effort on Wednesday, 23rd April, NDLEA operatives in Jigawa State, acting on intelligence, intercepted consignments of opioids being transported from Kano to Niger Republic and Yobe State.
Officers on patrol at about 2:30am along the Kano-Ringim road in Gumel town halted a Toyota Sienna vehicle with registration number ABJ 182 NW, arresting two suspects – Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29.
A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the primary supplier, Jamilu Muhammad, 41, at his residence in Mil Tara, Layin Technical area of Kano.
Officers discovered and evacuated an additional 1,584,000 tramadol pills hidden inside a Nissan 18-seater bus (DAL 372 XA) and within a room in Muhammad’s house, bringing the total seizure to 2,001,500 pills comprising tramadol and pregabalin capsules.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) of the NDLEA uncovered another attempt to smuggle cocaine to Saudi Arabia.
Following the interception of 20 parcels of cocaine hidden inside religious books the previous week, operatives on Wednesday, 23rd April, seized 46 wraps of cocaine weighing 547 grammes cleverly concealed in body cream at a courier firm in Lagos.
Another consignment intercepted on the same day included 1.8 kilogrammes of pentazocine injection and 60 grammes of bromazepam tablets destined for Canada.
At the Seme Border area in Badagry, Lagos, three Ghanaian nationals – Haziza Zubairu, 42; Samirat Mustapha, 43; and Jamila Salifu, 26 – were arrested on Sunday, 20th April, while attempting to smuggle a combined 4.8 kilogrammes of Ghana Loud, another potent cannabis strain, into Nigeria.
Further enforcement activities in Kano led to the arrest of a 60-year-old grandmother, Safiya Shamsu, on Friday, 25th April, after she was found in possession of 5.6 kilogrammes of skunk, a type of cannabis.
Another suspect, Muntari Labaran, 35, was detained after 100 litres of codeine syrup were seized from him at Yelwa area in Dala Local Government Area.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives raided two cannabis farms in Ugbodu community, Ovia North East LGA, destroying 3,814.9 kilogrammes of skunk on Thursday, 24th April. Three suspects – Samuel Samson, 26; Daniel Peter, 20; and Abel Edah, 31 – were arrested during the plantation raid.
Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy continued across the country.
Sensitisation lectures were delivered at institutions including Dan-Doro Community Arabic Secondary School in Katsina, St. James Anglican School in Badariya, Kebbi, and the Federal Government Girls College in Tambuwal, Sokoto.
In Anambra, members of the Oganiru age grade in Onitsha also received WADA lectures, while the Lagos State Strategic Command paid a courtesy visit to the Ayangburen of Ikorodu, HRM Oba Kabir Adewale Shotobi.
Commending the officers and men involved, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd.), praised the various commands across the country for balancing efforts at both drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.
He lauded the professionalism and dedication exhibited during the operations, urging them to remain relentless in the fight against drug abuse and trafficking.
