NDLEA seizes N1bn worth of cannabis at Lagos hotel ‘used as cover for drug trade’

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have seized drugs with a street value of over N1 billion during the raid of a hotel in Lagos state.

In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the raided hotel is named Hook Hotel and Caesar Lounge, located at 16 Waziri Ibrahim street, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The agency recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis with a total weight of 417.3 kilograms, from the 80-room facility.

Babafemi said operatives raided the five-storey building used “as cover for distributing illicit substances” between April 25 and 26.

Three suspects — Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh — were arrested during the operation, while two others — Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth — are currently at large.

“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,” the statement reads.

In a similar event, NDLEA intercepted a Saudi Arabia-bound shipment of 46 wraps of cocaine weighing 547 grams hidden in body cream in Lagos.

“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 statement reads.

“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.”