The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a notorious drug kingpin, Yussuf Azeez, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria, following his attempt to flee to Saudi Arabia for the Islamic pilgrimage known as Umrah.
According to NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, Azeez, aged 40, was intercepted by operatives at about 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 6, 2025. He had previously been declared wanted for establishing a secret laboratory where synthetic cannabis, known locally as Colorado, was being produced in Lagos.
Babafemi said the suspect had earlier been arrested in the United Kingdom for drug offences but escaped after jumping bail and returned to Nigeria, where he reestablished his criminal network.
“The drug kingpin had been arrested and charged for drug offences in the United Kingdom, but jumped bail and escaped to Nigeria. Soon after settling in Lagos, he set up a massive clandestine laboratory in the Lekki area for the production of Colorado and other illicit substances,” Babafemi said.
Upon his arrest, Azeez was taken to his laboratory located at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, which had been under NDLEA surveillance. Inside the premises, officers dismantled high-tech laboratory equipment, precursor chemicals, and seized 148.3 kilograms of processed synthetic cannabis. A 43-year-old associate, Abideen Kekere-Ekun, was also apprehended at the scene.
In related operations across Nigeria, NDLEA operatives, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, intercepted 105.5 kilograms of “Molly” (a designer drug) and 500 grams of methamphetamine at the Sifax Bonded Terminal in Okota, Lagos, on November 7.
In Niger State, the agency arrested Ibrahim Mohammed, aged 35, along the Kainji–Wawa Road with a truck loaded with 87,000 tramadol pills and 72 kilograms of cannabis. Another suspect, Aliyu Samaila, was nabbed along the Zaki-Biam–Wukari Road in Taraba State with 34,520 capsules of tramadol hidden in compartments of a Toyota Corolla. The drugs were said to be en route from Onitsha in Anambra State to Cameroon.
Similarly, operatives arrested Felix Chinedu, 28, in Ardo Kola, Taraba State, with 15,020 capsules of tramadol, while a separate operation in Kogi State yielded 7.6 kilograms of Loud, another form of cannabis. The follow-up operation in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, led to the arrest of Chukwunonso Anieze, the alleged owner of the substance.
The NDLEA also seized a truck at the Abuja–Kaduna Tollgate carrying 769 kilograms of skunk. Three men, Olayide Oyidiran, Abdulsalam Abdulsalam, and Opeyemi Tijjani, were arrested. The drugs were reportedly transported from Lagos to Kano.
Meanwhile, in Edo State, a 73-year-old man, James Ugbedo, was arrested at a cannabis plantation in Igbeshi Forest, where 1,459.75 kilograms of cannabis were destroyed. Another 70-year-old woman, Comfort Odudu, was detained in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, with 5 kilograms of cannabis.
Babafemi emphasized that the NDLEA has intensified nationwide operations against drug cartels and laboratories producing synthetic drugs, stating, “A 73-year-old grandpa, James Ugbedo, was arrested in Edo State, where 1,459.75kg of skunk was destroyed, while 70-year-old grandma, Mrs Comfort Odudu, was nabbed in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, with 5kg of the same substance.”
Okay News reports that the agency’s ongoing crackdown aims to dismantle international and domestic drug trafficking networks fueling synthetic drug production across West Africa.
