Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted drug baron, Frank Chijioke Ibemesi, popularly known as Chisco Bee, following weeks of intelligence gathering and surveillance.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the 42-year-old suspect—Managing Director of Franc CJ Ibemesi Nig Ltd—was apprehended in the early hours of Saturday at his Daisy Garden Hotel on Ago Palace Way, Isolo, Lagos.
After his arrest, operatives led him to a warehouse located at Pius Ezeobi Street, also in the Ago Palace axis, where 42 jumbo bags and four cartons of Loud (a potent strain of cannabis) weighing 1,762.8 kilogrammes were recovered.
NDLEA officers also seized $11,600, £2,000, €2,200, and 50 Canadian dollars found in his possession at the point of arrest.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives thwarted attempts by a drug syndicate operating within the Orita-Apeje and Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve in Ife South LGA of Osun State to distribute 11,135 kilogrammes of processed skunk. Two trucks used for transporting the drugs—a Volvo (WWR 29 XA) and a Mercedes truck (AWK 713 YZ)—were confiscated, and seven suspects were arrested.
Across Edo State, officers recovered 1,902.1 kilogrammes of skunk in multiple interceptions, including 184.1kg on a bush path in Igbanke, 672kg from Utese Forest, and another 494kg from a Mercedes car on the Benin–Akure road, leading to the arrest of Felix Edah, 45. Another suspect, Lucky Abagha, 51, was arrested with 552kg in a separate Mercedes vehicle.
Four suspects—Micheal Okoh, Offor Agada, Raphael Nkemjika, and Nwabueze Franklin—were arrested on the Ijebu-Ode Expressway with 68kg of skunk and 3.150kg of methamphetamine.
In Taraba State, Danjuma Tukura, 50, was arrested in Sunkani with 172kg of skunk, while Wisdom Titus, 24, was caught with 84kg in Takum.
Adamawa command operatives recovered 396,000 tramadol capsules from Ahmed Nda, 50, at the Aliyu Mustapha International Airport, Yola.
In Nasarawa, 785kg of skunk was seized from a warehouse belonging to a fleeing suspect in Asok Maraba Karu.
Lagos operations also recorded breakthroughs:
– Jamiu Kardoso and Oriyomi Waliu were arrested in Surulere with 65.150kg of Canadian Loud.
– Taofeek Moraina was arrested in Oyingbo with 282 blocks of Ghana Loud weighing 141kg.
In Kwara, operatives intercepted a truck along the Ilorin–Jebba expressway carrying 78.565kg of skunk and 155 cartons of rubber solution. The driver, Umar Yakubu, is in custody. Another suspect, Ibrahim Bello, was arrested after 20 blocks of skunk were discovered hidden inside a 50-litre jerrycan in a commercial bus.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands nationwide continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation efforts across schools, workplaces, worship centres, and communities.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers across the SOU, Osun, Lagos, Edo, Ogun, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa, and Kwara commands for their sustained efforts. He urged them to maintain the agency’s balanced and relentless approach to drug control.
