ABUJA (CHATNEWSTV) — Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency has seized over ₦1.04 billion worth of illicit drugs hidden inside a Lagos hotel and intercepted more than 2 million pills of opioids across Kano and Jigawa states, officials said Sunday.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) raided The Hook Hotel, also known as Caesar Hotel and Lounge, in Victoria Island between Friday and Saturday, recovering 589 bags of “Canadian Loud,” a potent cannabis strain, weighing 417.3 kilograms.
Three Ghanaian suspects — Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh — were arrested during the sweep, while two others, identified as Noble Philip and Kenneth, remain at large, NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said.
Vehicles and electronics suspected to be proceeds of drug sales were also seized, including luxury SUVs and dozens of television sets.
“This hotel served as a major distribution hub under the cover of hospitality business,” said NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd.). “We are determined to dismantle these criminal networks.”
In a separate operation on April 23, NDLEA officers intercepted a Toyota Sienna vehicle on the Kano-Ringim road in Gumel town, Jigawa state, uncovering 200,000 pills of tramadol and 217,500 capsules of pregabalin. Two men, Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29, were arrested.
A follow-up raid in Kano led to the arrest of the suspected supplier, 41-year-old Jamilu Muhammad, and the seizure of an additional 1.58 million tramadol pills hidden inside a Nissan bus and in a room at his residence.
In total, NDLEA recovered over 2 million pills of opioids from the syndicate.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers intercepted 46 wraps of cocaine concealed in body cream packages bound for Saudi Arabia at a Lagos courier firm. Other contraband intercepted the same day included pentazocine injections and bromazepam tablets heading to Canada.
At the Seme border in Lagos, three Ghanaian women — Haziza Zubairu, 42; Samirat Mustapha, 43; and Jamila Salifu, 26 — were caught smuggling nearly 5 kilograms of Ghana Loud cannabis into Nigeria.
Elsewhere, a 60-year-old grandmother, Safiya Shamsu, was arrested with 5.6 kilograms of skunk cannabis in Kano, and a man, Muntari Labaran, 35, was caught with 100 liters of codeine syrup.
NDLEA agents also destroyed over 3.8 tons of cannabis on farms in Edo State’s Ovia North East local government area, arresting three suspects.
Marwa praised the agency’s officers across Lagos, Kano, Jigawa, Edo, and Seme Commands for what he called “sustained efforts to reduce both the supply and demand for illicit substances.”
“We will continue to push back against the drug scourge with every tool available,” he said.
The NDLEA’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign also continued nationwide, with outreach events in Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Anambra states.
