NDLEA cracks drug syndicates in Lagos, Osun, Edo with massive cannabis seizures

Abdullateef Fowewe

A wanted drug baron operating under the guise of a businessman, Frank Chijioke Ibemesi, known as Chisco Bee, has been arrested by NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit after weeks of surveillance.

A statement on Sunday by the NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi noted that the 42-year-old MD/CEO of Franc CJ Ibemesi Nig Ltd was apprehended at his Daisy Garden Hotel in Isolo, Lagos, early Saturday, November 15, 2025.

Officials recovered “42 jumbo bags and four cartoons of Loud”, a cannabis strain weighing 1,762.8 kilograms, from his warehouse. Cash seized at the arrest point included $11,600 US dollars, “2,000 British Pounds; 2,200 Euros and 50 Canadian dollars”.

Separate operations thwarted a syndicate attempting to distribute “11,135 kilograms of processed skunk” , another cannabis strain, from Osun State’s Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve on November 11. Seven suspects were arrested alongside two trucks used for transportation.

In Edo State, NDLEA recovered a total of “1,902.1 kilograms of skunk”, including “184.1kg at Oza/Igbanke road”, “672kg at Utese forest” , and “494kg from a Mercedes Benz on Benin-Akure road”.

Babafemi confirmed that multiple arrests accompanied these seizures.

NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) praised the officers and called for continued dedication:
“We enjoin them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.”