After weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance, agents of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s (NDLEA) Special Operations Unit have apprehended Frank Chijioke Ibemesi, also known as Chisco Bee, a wanted drug lord who was posing as a businessman and hotelier.
In a statement released on Sunday, November 16, 2025, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, reportedly confirmed the arrest.
The agency claims that early on Saturday, November 15, the 42-year-old suspect—the MD/CEO of Franc CJ Ibemesi Nigeria Ltd.—was taken into custody at the Daisy Garden Hotel, which is situated at 66–68 Agbeke Street, Ago Palace Way, Isolo, Lagos.
Officers brought him to one of his warehouses at 7 Pius Ezeobi Street, off Ago Palace Way, as soon as he was arrested. There, they found 42 giant bags and four cartons of Loud, a strong cannabis strain, totaling 1,762.8 kg.
Large amounts of foreign currency, including $11,600, £2,000, €2,200, and $50 Canadian dollars, were also immediately taken from him.
The raid on the hotel in Lagos, according to the agency, was just one aspect of a large-scale, multi-state operation that lasted for a week.
After monitoring the Orita-Apeje, Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve in Ife South LGA for days, NDLEA agents in Osun State apprehended a significant drug syndicate.
Two vehicles, a Mercedes with the license plate AWK 713 YZ and a Volvo with the license plate WWR 29 XA, were confiscated. They were both carrying 11,135 kg of processed skunk.
Lucky Abiodun, Julius Amos, Victor Ngbikili, Sunday Oduegwu, Ibrahim Akanni, Eze Godstime, and Fred Ifeanyichukwu were the seven suspects taken into custody.
According to the NDLEA, its agents in Edo State also seized 1,902.1 kg of skunk at various locations.
The dissection reveals:
On Thursday, November 13, 184.1 kg was found on a bush walk at Oza/Igbanke Road, Orhionmwon LGA. On Friday, November 14, 672 kg was removed from the Utese woodland in Ovia North East LGA.
A Mercedes-Benz with the license plate DE311BEN was found to contain 494 kilograms on the Benin–Akure road. Felix Edah, a 45-year-old driver, was taken into custody.
Another suspect, 51-year-old Lucky Abagha, was detained in a Mercedes-Benz with the license plate JJJ 56 JW, which was carrying 552 kg of skunk.
Additional arrests and seizures were reported by the NDLEA in a number of additional states.
Along the Ijebu-Ode motorway in Ogun State, four suspects—Michael Okoh, Offor Agada, Raphael Nkemjika, and Nwabueze Franklin—were apprehended with 3.150 kg of methamphetamine and 68 kg of skunk.
Operatives in Taraba State detained 50-year-old Danjuma Tukura in Sunkani, Ardo Kola LGA, with 172 kilograms of skunk. In Takum, another suspect, Wisdom Titus, 24, was taken into custody with 84 kg.
On Friday, November 14, Ahmed Isyaku Nda, 50, was found in possession of 396,000 tramadol capsules by Adamawa police stationed at the Aliyu Mustapha International Airport in Yola.
A drug dealer who is currently at large in Nasarawa State had 785 kg of skunk removed from his storage in Asob Maraba Karu.
Two suspects, Jamiu Kunle Kardoso and Oriyomi Waliu, were reportedly apprehended in Lagos along with 65.150 kilograms of Canadian Loud in Surulere.
On the same day, Taofeek Moraina, another suspect, was taken into custody in Otto, Oyingbo, Lagos, carrying 282 blocks of 141 kg totaling Ghana Loud.
A truck with the license plate T-0262KT was stopped by NDLEA agents in Kwara State as it was transporting 155 cartons of rubber solutions and 197 blocks of skunk total 78.565 kg on the Ilorin–Jebba motorway.
Arrests were made of Umar Yakubu, the driver.
On Wednesday, November 12, a commercial bus with the license plate KJA-657CY was also stopped in Eiyenkorin, Ilorin, with 20 blocks of skunk hidden in a 50-liter jerry can. Ibrahim Bello was taken into custody.
The organization reported that the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign was being carried out at schools, places of worship, and workplaces by its Commands and formations nationwide.
Government Day Secondary School, Birnin Ruwa Gusau (Zamfara); Holy Ghost Secondary School, Abakaliki (Ebonyi); Government Science Technical School, Ringim (Jigawa); City Girls Secondary School, Enugu; Randle Junior Secondary School, Surulere (Lagos); and Anglican Girls Grammar School, Obalende, Ijebu-Ode (Ogun) are among the schools visited for drug-prevention lectures.
Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd), the chairman and chief executive officer of NDLEA, praised the personnel who carried out the operations.
The government would continue to use a “balanced approach” to pursue drug-control measures countrywide, he said, urging them to stay firm and persistent.
