The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a wanted drug baron, Frank Chijioke Ibemesi, popularly known as Chisco Bee, following weeks of coordinated intelligence gathering and surveillance by a Special Operations Unit.
Spokesperson of the Agency, Femi Babafemi, confirmed that the 42-year-old suspect, who doubled as a businessman and hotelier, was apprehended at his Daisy Garden Hotel on Ago Palace Way, Isolo, Lagos, in the early hours of Saturday, 15 November 2025.
According to Babafemi, the suspect later led operatives to a warehouse linked to him on Pius Ezeobi Street, Ago Palace Way, where a significant drug consignment was uncovered. The recovery included 42 jumbo bags and four cartons of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 1,762.8 kilograms. Foreign currency found in his possession at the point of arrest included $11,600, 2,000 British pounds, 2,200 euros, and 50 Canadian dollars.
In a separate operation in Osun State, NDLEA operatives dismantled a major drug syndicate operating deep within the Orita-Apeje, Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve in Ife South Local Government Area. After days of surveillance, officers intercepted 11,135 kilograms of processed skunk on Tuesday, 11 November. Two trucks used for transportation were seized, while seven suspects were taken into custody.
The Agency also recorded multiple breakthroughs in Edo State with the recovery of 1,902.1 kilograms of skunk from various locations, including a bush path along the Oza/Igbanke road and the Utese forest in Ovia North East. Additional consignments were intercepted on the Benin-Akure road, leading to the arrest of two suspects conveying cannabis inside separate Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
In Ogun State, four suspects were arrested on the Ijebu-Ode expressway with skunk and methamphetamine. Taraba State operations yielded further seizures, with 172 kilograms recovered in Sunkani, Ardo Kola, while another suspect was arrested in Takum with 84 kilograms of skunk.
In Adamawa, operatives seized 396,000 capsules of tramadol from a suspect at the Aliyu Mustapha International Airport, Yola. A warehouse in Maraba Karu, Nasarawa State, also yielded 785 kilograms of skunk linked to a fleeing drug dealer.
In Lagos, two suspects were arrested in Surulere with Canadian Loud weighing 65.150 kilograms, while another was caught in Otto-Oyingbo with 141 kilograms of Ghana Loud. In Kwara State, NDLEA intercepted a truck carrying 197 blocks of skunk and cartons of rubber solutions along the Ilorin-Jebba expressway, and another bus carrying 20 blocks of skunk concealed in a 50-litre jerrycan was intercepted in Ilorin.
Across NDLEA Commands nationwide, War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities continued in schools, religious centres, workplaces and communities, with lectures delivered to students and staff across several states, including Zamfara, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Enugu, Lagos and Ogun.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain the Agency’s balanced approach to drug control through intensified enforcement and continuous public education.
