Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted drug baron and hotelier, Chijioke Ibemesi, alias Chisco Bee, after weeks of intelligence-led surveillance.
The 42-year-old Managing Director of Franc CJ Ibemesi Nig. Ltd was picked up in the early hours of Saturday, 15th November, at his Daisy Garden Hotel in Isolo, Lagos.
He subsequently led operatives to his warehouse in the same axis, where 42 jumbo bags and four cartons of “Loud” cannabis weighing 1,762.8kg were recovered. The NDLEA also seized $11,600, 2,000 British Pounds, 2,200 Euros and 50 Canadian Dollars at the point of arrest.
Confirming the breakthrough, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the arrest “marks a significant disruption of a major trafficking network operating under the guise of legitimate business.”
In a separate operation in Osun State, NDLEA officers intercepted a drug syndicate operating inside the Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve, preventing the distribution of 11,135kg of processed skunk destined for multiple parts of the country.
Two trucks used for the haulage were seized, while seven suspects were arrested. Additional seizures across Edo, Ogun, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa, Kwara and Lagos States brought the total haul for the week to several tonnes, including 1,902.1kg of skunk in Edo, 396,000 capsules of tramadol in Adamawa, 785kg of skunk in Nasarawa, and multiple arrests linked to cross-state trafficking networks.
Babafemi described the nationwide operations as “a clear demonstration of NDLEA’s strengthened intelligence capacity and unwavering resolve to dismantle drug cartels across Nigeria.”
NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers across the affected commands for their coordinated efforts, urging them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach combining enforcement with ongoing War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres and communities nationwide.
