NDLEA raids Lagos hotel, seizes drugs worth over N1bn
Abdullateef Fowewe
The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have intercepted a major drug distribution hub disguised as an 80-room five-storey building identified as The Hook Hotel, also known as Caesar Hotel and Caesar Lounge, located at 16 Waziri Ibrahim Street, off Elsie Femi Pearse Street.
A statement on Sunday by the NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, revealed.
After hours of intensive room-to-room searches, NDLEA officers recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, with a total weight of 417.3 kilograms, estimated to have a street value of over ₦1.04 billion.
Three individuals identified as Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh, were apprehended during the operation, while two other suspects, Noble Philip and Kenneth, remain at large.
In addition to the drug haul, officers confiscated several items believed to be proceeds from the illicit drug trade, including multiple vehicles, a Toyota Prado Land Cruiser, a Toyota Sienna, a Volkswagen Delivery Van, a Kia Cerato, and a Dodge Grand Caravan, as well as 74 new television sets, 10 used TVs, and 13 refrigerators.
However, in a separate operation in Jigawa State, NDLEA officers intercepted a Toyota Sienna van loaded with large quantities of opioids being transported from Kano to the Niger Republic and Yobe State.
The operation, which took place on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, led to the arrest of two suspects, Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29, and the recovery of 200,000 tablets of tramadol and 217,500 capsules of pregabalin from the vehicle.
Further investigation led operatives to Kano, where they arrested 41-year-old Jamilu Muhammad at his residence in the Mil Tara area, uncovering an additional 1.58 million tablets of tramadol hidden inside a Nissan 18-seater bus and a room in his house, bringing the total number of pills seized to over two million.
NDLEA operatives at a courier company in Lagos intercepted another shipment of illicit drugs bound for Saudi Arabia, with the seizure including 46 wraps of cocaine weighing 547 grams hidden inside body cream containers.
On the same day, authorities also seized 1.8 kilograms of pentazocine injections and 60 grams of bromazepam tablets intended for export to Canada.
At the Seme border near Badagry, Lagos, three Ghanaian women identified as Haziza Zubairu, 42; Samirat Mustapha, 43; and Jamila Salifu, 26, were arrested on Sunday, April 20, while attempting to smuggle a combined 4.8 kilograms of “Ghana Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis, into Nigeria.
