By Deborah Nnamdi
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted drug kingpin, 40-year-old Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, while attempting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah pilgrimage.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said Azeez’s arrest followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance. The suspect, previously arrested and charged with drug offences in the United Kingdom before jumping bail and fleeing to Nigeria, had established a large clandestine laboratory in the Lekki area for the production of Colorado, a potent synthetic cannabis.
He was arrested around 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 6, 2025, and taken to his laboratory located at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, where another suspect, 43-year-old Abideen Kekere-Ekun, was also apprehended. Operatives dismantled the lab, seizing equipment, precursor chemicals, and 148.3 kilograms of illicit substances.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies discovered 105.5 kilograms of designer drug Molly and 500 grams of methamphetamine during a joint inspection at the Sifax bonded terminal in Okota, Lagos, on Friday, November 7.
Further nationwide operations led to multiple arrests and drug seizures. In Niger State, 35-year-old Ibrahim Mohammed was intercepted along the Kainji–Wawa Road with 87,000 pills of tramadol and 72 kilograms of cannabis. In Taraba, 34,520 tramadol capsules were recovered from a Toyota Corolla heading to Cameroon, while another suspect, 28-year-old Felix Tanko Chinedu, was caught with over 15,000 capsules at Kasuwabera ATC, Ardo Kola LGA.
In Kogi State, operatives intercepted 7.6 kilograms of Loud, a high-grade strain of cannabis, along the Okene–Lokoja highway. A follow-up operation in Abuja led to the arrest of 40-year-old Chukwunonso Anieze and the recovery of 175,000 opioid pills. Three other suspects were arrested at the Abuja–Kaduna tollgate with 769 kilograms of skunk concealed in a truck.
The agency also reported the arrest of a 73-year-old man, James Ugbedo, in Edo State for cultivating 1,459.75 kilograms of cannabis, while 70-year-old Mrs. Comfort Odudu was apprehended in Bayelsa with 5 kilograms of skunk.
The NDLEA said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continues across the country with sensitization programmes in schools, worship centres, transport unions, and workplaces.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers involved in the operations and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to dismantling criminal drug networks.
He said the Lekki laboratory raid, coming shortly after another similar bust in Ajao Estate, Lagos, marked another major step in the agency’s crackdown on synthetic drug production. “Let it be known to those still hiding in the dark that the NDLEA, supported by local and international partners, will continue to hunt them down and bring them to justice,” Marwa stated.
