NDLEA Nabs Saudi-Bound Drug Lord, Dismantles Synthetic Cannabis Laboratory in Lekki
A major drug kingpin, 40-year-old Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) while attempting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia for Umrah at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The arrest, which took place at about 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 6, 2025, followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance on Azeez, who was wanted for running a large-scale clandestine laboratory in the Lekki area of Lagos State, used for producing Colorado, a potent synthetic form of cannabis.
According to a statement by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Azeez had previously been arrested and charged with drug offences in the United Kingdom, but jumped bail and fled to Nigeria, where he resumed his illicit operations.
Following his arrest at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives led him to his residence at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, where the laboratory was located. At the scene, the suspect was found with an accomplice, Abideen Kekere-Ekun, aged 43.
Special operatives from the Agency’s Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring dismantled the illicit facility, seizing 148.3 kilograms of Colorado, along with various precursor chemicals and production equipment.
In a separate joint operation with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, NDLEA operatives discovered 105.5 kilograms of “Molly”, a designer drug, and 500 grams of methamphetamine during a cargo examination at the Sifax Bonded Terminal in Okota, Lagos, on Friday, November 7.
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Nationwide operations within the same period also led to multiple seizures and arrests: In Niger State, operatives intercepted a Volvo truck conveying 87,000 tramadol pills and 72kg of skunk along the Kainji–Wawa road, arresting Ibrahim Mohammed, 35.
In Taraba State, a suspect, Felix Tanko Chinedu, 28, was nabbed with 15,020 capsules of tramadol in Ardo Kola LGA.Also Ilin Kogi State, a patrol along the Okene–Lokoja highway led to the recovery of 7.6kg of Loud (a strong cannabis strain), while a follow-up operation in Abuja resulted in the arrest of Chukwunonso Anieze, 40, and the recovery of 175,000 opioid pills.
Three other suspects — Olayide Oyidiran (39), Abdulsalam Abdulsalam (28) and Opeyemi Tijjani (39) — were caught with 769kg of skunk along the Abuja–Kaduna expressway in a truck en route from Lagos to Kano.In Edo State, NDLEA officers arrested a 73-year-old man, James Ugbedo, at a cannabis plantation in Igbeshi Forest, Etsako East LGA, where 1,459.75kg of cannabis was destroyed and another 5.6kg evacuated. Similarly, in Bayelsa State, a 70-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Comfort Odudu, was arrested in Onopa, Yenagoa, with 5kg of skunk in her possession.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns in schools, transport unions, and religious institutions, including engagements in Ebonyi, Niger, Oyo, Sokoto, Adamawa, and Kebbi States.
Commending the operatives for their diligence, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), said the latest operations demonstrate the agency’s sustained drive to dismantle drug syndicates nationwide.
“The dismantling of yet another clandestine laboratory for the production of Colorado and the arrest of its kingpin in Lekki, barely a week after a similar operation in Ajao Estate, Lagos, shows our resolve to hunt down drug merchants who prey on the weak,” Marwa stated. “Let it be known that the NDLEA, with support from local and international partners, will continue to pursue and bring them to justice.”
By PRNigeria
