Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have recovered 589 bags of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, with a total weight of 417.3 kilogrammes, valued at N1.042 billion in street value, after hours of searching an 80-room hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos.

Three suspects: Eze Ayitu, Ofuokwu Samuel, and Emmanuel Ameh were arrested during the operation at the five-storey hotel, which took place between Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26. Two other suspects, Noble Philip and his partner Kenneth, remain at large.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed the development in a statement yesterday, revealing that the hotel was being used as a front for distributing illicit substances.

Items believed to be proceeds of the illicit drug trade were recovered from the premises of 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.

These included: a Toyota Prado Landcruiser Jeep (Lagos AKD 472 OZ), a Toyota Sienna vehicle (Lagos KJA 79 HJ), a Volkswagen delivery van (Lagos AAA 525 JE), a Kia Ceranto car (Lagos BDG 860 GQ), a Grand Caravan Dodge (Lagos APP 847 YF), 74 new TV sets, 10 used TV sets, and 13 refrigerators, among others.

In another major interception in Jigawa State, followed by an operation in Kano, NDLEA operatives seized consignments of opioids being transported from Kano to Niger Republic and Yobe State through Jigawa. The drugs were being moved in a Toyota Sienna vehicle marked ABJ 182 NW at around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 23, along the Kano-Ringim road in Gumel town, when anti-narcotic officers intercepted the vehicle.

Two suspects, Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29, were arrested.

The recovered drugs included 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 in Mil Tara, Layin Technical area of Kano.

During the raid, an additional 1,584,000 pills of tramadol (250mg) were found stacked inside a Nissan 18-seater bus marked DAL 372 XA, as well as in a room at his house, bringing the total number of opioids recovered to 2,001,500 pills.

Barely a week after NDLEA officers uncovered 20 parcels of cocaine concealed in religious books being shipped to Saudi Arabia, the operatives intercepted another shipment on Wednesday, April 23, of 46 wraps of cocaine (547 grammes) hidden in body cream, also destined for Saudi Arabia. Another consignment seized the same day included 1.8kg of pentazocine injection and 60 grammes of bromazepam tablets, both headed to Canada.

At the Seme border area in Badagry, Lagos, three Ghanaian women were arrested on Sunday, April 20, at the Gbaji checkpoint while attempting to smuggle a combined 4.8 kilogrammes of Ghana Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, into Nigeria. The suspects were identified as Haziza Zubairu, 42; Samirat Mustapha, 43; and Jamila Salifu, 26.

In Kano, a 60-year-old woman, Safiya Shamsu, was arrested on Friday, April 25, at Samegu area of Kumbotso Council with 5.6kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis. Another suspect, Muntari Labaran, 35, was taken into custody following the seizure of 100 litres of codeine syrup from him at Yelwa area of Dala Council.

A total of 3,814.9kg of skunk was destroyed on two farms in Ugbodu community, Ovia North East Local Council, Edo State, on Thursday, April 24, after NDLEA operatives raided the plantations. Three suspects: Samuel Samson, 26; Daniel Peter, 20; and Abel Edah, 31 were arrested during the raid.