The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested a Lagos hotelier, Frank Chijioke Ibemesi, after weeks of surveillance that linked him to a major drug trafficking network in the state.
The arrest was confirmed in a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters.
According to the statement, operatives of the Special Operations Unit picked up the 42-year-old at his Daisy Garden Hotel located at 66–68 Agbeke Street, Ago Palace Way in Isolo, Lagos, in the early hours of Saturday, 15 November 2025.
He was identified as the MD/CEO of Franc CJ Ibemesi Nig. Ltd.
“After the arrest, operatives moved him to a warehouse at 7 Pius Ezeobi Street, off Ago Palace Way, where they recovered 42 jumbo bags and four cartons of Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing a total of 1,762.8 kilograms.
“Cash seized from him at the point of his arrest included $11,600, 2,000 British Pounds, 2,200 Euros and 50 Canadian dollars”, the statement read in part.
The NDLEA said another major syndicate operating in the Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve in Ife South LGA, Osun State, was intercepted earlier in the week. Operatives who had monitored the camp for days seized 11,135 kilograms of processed skunk on Tuesday, 11 November.
Two trucks, a Volvo (WWR 29 XA) and a Mercedes (AWK 713 YZ), were blocked while attempting to move the drugs to other parts of the country.
Seven suspects are currently in custody: Lucky Abiodun, Julius Amos, Victor Ngbikili, Sunday Oduegwu, Ibrahim Akanni, Eze Godstime and Fred Ifeanyichukwu.
The agency reported several other seizures across Edo, Ogun, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Lagos and Kwara states.
The agency continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation drive nationwide during the week. Schools in Zamfara, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Enugu, Lagos, and Ogun hosted lectures aimed at educating students and staff on drug abuse prevention.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig Gen Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers involved in the various operations and encouraged them to sustain the agency’s current approach to drug control.