SAUDI-BOUND DRUG LORD FALLS: NDLEA SMASHES LAGOS COLO LAB, ARRESTS GRANDPARENTS IN NATIONWIDE RAIDS

In a dramatic takedown that underscores Nigeria’s deepening war against narcotics, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted drug kingpin, Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos — just as he was about to board a flight to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage.

The 40-year-old fugitive, who had earlier fled the United Kingdom after jumping bail on drug-related charges, had built what investigators describe as a “massive clandestine laboratory” in the Lekki area of Lagos for the production of Colorado — a potent synthetic cannabis known to cause psychosis and violent behavior.

According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, Azeez’s arrest on Thursday, November 6, followed months of intelligence tracking. “He walked into the waiting hands of NDLEA operatives,” Babafemi said. “At the time, he had no idea that his Lekki laboratory was already under surveillance.”

At exactly 6:30 a.m., Azeez was intercepted and whisked to his secret base at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, where operatives from the Agency’s Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring (DFCM) dismantled the illicit lab. Inside, they found and seized 148.3 kilograms of Colorado and precursor chemicals used in its manufacture.

Azeez’s accomplice, Abideen Kekere-Ekun, 43, was arrested at the scene. Equipment worth millions of naira was carted away, marking one of the largest indoor laboratory dismantlings in Lagos in recent years.

NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) described the bust as “a major strike against merchants of death who prey on the weak in our communities.”

“Let it be known to those still hiding in the dark that the NDLEA, supported by our local and international law enforcement partners, will continue to hunt them and bring them to justice,” Marwa vowed.

The Lekki operation was followed by another major seizure a day later at the Sifax bonded terminal in Okota, Lagos, where NDLEA operatives working alongside Customs officers discovered 105.5 kilograms of Molly (a designer drug) and 500 grams of methamphetamine hidden in a shipment container during a joint examination.

Beyond Lagos, the NDLEA’s dragnet extended across multiple states in coordinated raids that targeted drug traffickers and couriers on Nigeria’s highways and forest hideouts.

• In Niger State, a Volvo truck driver, Ibrahim Mohammed (35), was intercepted along the Kainji–Wawa road with 87,000 tramadol pills and 72 kilograms of skunk.
• In Taraba, operatives arrested Felix Tanko Chinedu (28) with 15,020 tramadol capsules.
• In Kogi, officers seized 7.6 kilograms of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, along the Okene–Lokoja highway. A follow-up raid in Abuja led to the arrest of Chukwunonso Anieze (40) and recovery of 175,000 opioid pills.
• At the Abuja–Kaduna tollgate, three suspects — Olayide Oyidiran (39), Abdulsalam Abdulsalam (28), and Opeyemi Tijjani (39) — were nabbed with 769 kilograms of skunk concealed in a truck en route to Kano.

In a twist that shocked even seasoned narcotics officers, two septuagenarians were among those arrested.
In Edo State, 73-year-old James Ugbedo was caught in a cannabis plantation deep inside Igbeshi Forest, Etsako East LGA, where 1,459.75 kilograms of skunk were destroyed.
In Bayelsa, 70-year-old Mrs. Comfort Odudu was apprehended at Onopa, Yenagoa, with 5 kilograms of skunk.

“These arrests show that drug trafficking has no age boundary,” an NDLEA official commented.

While its strike teams continue to disrupt supply chains, the NDLEA is also intensifying its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign nationwide.
In the past week alone, sensitization lectures were held at Transfiguration Seminary, Abakaliki (Ebonyi State); Immanuel College, Ibadan (Oyo State); Government Girls Secondary School, Ilelah (Sokoto); and NURTW offices in Birnin Kebbi (Kebbi State) among others.

Brig. Gen. Marwa reaffirmed the agency’s “balanced approach” — combining law enforcement with prevention, education, and rehabilitation.

The back-to-back dismantling of two synthetic drug labs in Lagos within one week signals a clear escalation in NDLEA’s war on synthetic narcotics. Analysts believe the busts also reflect growing cooperation between Nigerian and foreign agencies tracking transnational cartels using the country as a production base.

For now, the arrest of Azeez — once a UK fugitive, now in NDLEA custody — sends a powerful message:
No matter the disguise, no sanctuary remains for the merchants of death