The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a Lagos-based hotelier, Frank Chijioke Ibemesi, also known as Chisco Bee, after weeks of surveillance by its Special Operations Unit.
According to a statement issued by the agency, the suspect, identified as the MD/CEO of Franc CJ Ibemesi Nig Ltd, was picked up at his Daisy Garden Hotel on Agbeke Street, Ago Palace Way, Isolo, in the early hours of Saturday, 15 November 2025.
Ibemesi was later taken to a warehouse on Pius Ezeobi Street, also in Isolo, where operatives recovered 42 jumbo bags and four cartons of Loud—a strain of cannabis weighing 1,762.8kg. Cash found in his possession included $11,600, £2,000, €2,200 and 50 Canadian dollars.
NDLEA operatives also disrupted a major syndicate operating inside the Orita-Apeje, Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve in Ife South LGA of Osun State, where 11,135kg of processed skunk was being prepared for distribution. Two trucks used for the operation were seized, and seven suspects taken into custody: Lucky Abiodun, Julius Amos, Victor Ngbikili, Sunday Oduegwu, Ibrahim Akanni, Eze Godstime and Fred Ifeanyichukwu.
Across Edo State, a combined 1,902.1kg of skunk was recovered. The breakdown showed 184.1kg seized along a bush path in Igbanke, 672kg evacuated from Utese forest in Ovia North East, while a series of arrests on the Benin-Akure road led to the recovery of 494kg and 552kg from two Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Those arrested included Felix Edah, 45, and Lucky Abagha, 51.
In Ogun State, four suspects identified as Micheal Okoh, Offor Agada, Raphael Nkemjika and Nwabueze Franklin were arrested along the Ijebu-Ode expressway with 68kg of skunk and 3.150kg of methamphetamine. Across Taraba, Danjuma Tukura, 50, was held with 172kg of skunk at Sunkani in Ardo Kola LGA, while Wisdom Titus, 24, was caught with 84kg in Takum.
In Adamawa, 396,000 tramadol capsules were recovered from a suspect, Ahmed Isyaku Nda, 50, at the Aliyu Mustapha International Airport, Yola. In Nasarawa, 785kg of skunk was evacuated from the warehouse of a fleeing suspect in Asob Maraba Karu.
Lagos commands also made arrests. Jamiu Kunle Kardoso and Oriyomi Waliu were found with 130 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 65.150kg in Surulere, while Taofeek Moraina was arrested with 282 blocks of Ghana Loud weighing 141kg in the Otto/Oyingbo area.
In Kwara, operatives intercepted a truck on the Ilorin–Jebba expressway carrying 197 blocks of skunk weighing 78.565kg and 155 cartons of rubber solutions, with the driver, Umar Yakubu, detained. Another arrest followed at Eiyenkorin, Ilorin, where 20 blocks of skunk concealed in a 50-litre jerrycan were recovered from a commercial bus. The driver, Ibrahim Bello, was taken into custody.
NDLEA commands across the country also intensified their WADA sensitisation efforts in schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities. Beneficiaries included Government Day Secondary School, Birnin Ruwa Gusau; Holy Ghost Secondary School, Abakaliki; Government Science Technical School, Ringim; City Girls Secondary School, Enugu; Randle Junior Secondary School, Surulere; and Anglican Girls Grammar School, Obalende, Ijebu Ode.
While reacting to the series of arrests and seizures, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) urged officers to sustain the agency’s “balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.”
