After weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance, agents from 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.
According to reports, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, confirmed the arrest in a statement on Sunday, November 16, 2025.
The 42-year-old suspect, the MD/CEO of Franc CJ Ibemesi Nigeria Ltd., was hauled up early on Saturday, November 15, at the Daisy Garden Hotel, which is situated at 66–68 Agbeke Street, Ago Palace Way, Isolo, Lagos, according to the agency.
Operatives escorted 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 powerful type of cannabis, totaling 1,762.8 kg.
Large amounts of foreign currency, including $11,600, £2,000, €2,200, and 50 Canadian dollars, were also taken from him immediately.
According to the agency, the raid on the hotel in Lagos was just one aspect of a large-scale, multi-state operation that lasted for a week.
After days of surveillance, NDLEA agents in Osun State apprehended a significant drug ring operating out of the Orita-Apeje, Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve in Ife South LGA.
A Mercedes vehicle registered AWK 713 YZ and a Volvo truck registered WWR 29 XA were both found to be carrying 11,135 kg of processed skunk.
Lucky Abiodun, Julius Amos, Victor Ngbikili, Sunday Oduegwu, Ibrahim Akanni, Eze Godstime, and Fred Ifeanyichukwu are the seven suspects that were taken into custody.
According to the NDLEA, its agents in Edo State also seized 1,902.1 kg of skunk from various locations.
The breakdown demonstrates:
On Thursday, November 13, 184.1 kg was found along 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.
On the Benin–Akure route, a Mercedes-Benz with the license plate DE311BEN had 494 kilograms seized from it. The 45-year-old driver, Felix Edah, was taken into custody.
Another suspect, 51-year-old Lucky Abagha, was apprehended in a Mercedes-Benz with the license plate JJJ 56 JW, which was carrying 552 kg of skunk.
Additional seizures and arrests in a number of additional states were reported by the NDLEA.
Along the Ijebu-Ode motorway in Ogun State, four suspects—Michael Okoh, Offor Agada, Raphael Nkemjika, and Nwabueze Franklin—were taken into custody with 3.150 kg of methamphetamine and 68 kg of skunk.
Danjuma Tukura, 50, was apprehended by Taraba State agents in Sunkani, Ardo Kola LGA, with 172 kg of skunk. Wisdom Titus, a 24-year-old suspect, was detained in Takum with 84 kilograms.
On Friday, November 14, 396,000 tramadol capsules were taken from 50-year-old Ahmed Isyaku Nda in Adamawa by police stationed at the Aliyu Mustapha International Airport in Yola.
At Asob Maraba Karu in Nasarawa State, 785 kg of skunk were removed from the warehouse of a drug dealer who is presently at large.
More arrests were reportedly made in Lagos, including the apprehension of two suspects, Oriyomi Waliu and Jamiu Kunle Kardoso, along with 65.150 kg of Canadian Loud in Surulere.
On the same day, Taofeek Moraina, another suspect, was apprehended in Otto, Oyingbo, Lagos, with 282 blocks of Ghana Loud that weighed 141 kg.
Along the Ilorin–Jebba road in Kwara State, NDLEA agents stopped a truck with the license plate T-0262KT that was transporting 155 cartons of rubber solutions and 197 blocks of skunk that weighed 78.565 kg.
The driver was taken into custody, Umar Yakubu.
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 as a result.
The organization reported that its Commands and formations nationwide carried out their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign at businesses, schools, and places of worship.
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) were among the schools visited for drug-prevention talks.
Brigadier-General Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd), NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, praised the officers engaged in the activities.
The government would continue to use a “balanced approach” to progress drug-control measures nationally, he said, urging them to stay steadfast and persistent.
