A major breakthrough in Nigeria’s anti-narcotics war was recorded this week as operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested a wanted drug baron, 40-year-old Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, while attempting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.
According to a signed statement by the Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, Azeez had been on the Agency’s watchlist for months following intelligence and surveillance operations that traced his involvement in large-scale drug production and trafficking. The notorious trafficker was previously arrested and charged for drug offences in the United Kingdom, but escaped after jumping bail and fled to Nigeria, where he established a massive clandestine laboratory in Lekki, Lagos, dedicated to producing Colorado, a potent synthetic cannabis, along with other illicit substances.
At about 6:30am on Thursday, 6th November 2025, NDLEA operatives intercepted Azeez at the Lagos airport as he prepared to depart for his pilgrimage. He was immediately taken to his operational base located at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, which had been under discreet surveillance. Another suspect, 43-year-old Abideen Kekere-Ekun, was also arrested at the site.
Operatives from the Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring (DFCM) subsequently dismantled the entire laboratory setup, recovering 148.3 kilograms of Colorado, a cache of precursor chemicals, and other related equipment used in the illicit drug manufacturing process.
In a related operation at the Sifax Bonded Terminal in Okota, Lagos, NDLEA officers working jointly with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies discovered 105.5 kilograms of “Molly”, a designer drug, and 500 grams of methamphetamine concealed within a shipment during a joint inspection on Friday, 7th November 2025.
The anti-narcotics agency also recorded significant seizures across several states during the week. In Niger State, operatives on Thursday, 6th November, intercepted a Volvo truck marked GRZ 872 XA along the Kainji-Wawa road, driven by Ibrahim Mohammed, 35, and loaded with 87,000 pills of tramadol and 72 kilograms of skunk.
Similarly, in Taraba State, a suspect identified as Felix Tanko Chinedu, 28, was apprehended at Kasuwabera ATC, Ardo Kola Local Government Area, with 15,020 capsules of tramadol, while another consignment of 34,520 tramadol capsules hidden in a Toyota Corolla car (GAN 102 AR) was seized along the Zaki-Biam–Wukari road in a separate operation. The driver, Aliyu Samaila, 25, who was transporting the drugs from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Cameroon, was promptly arrested.
In Kogi State, NDLEA patrol officers along the Okene-Lokoja highway intercepted a consignment containing 7.6 kilograms of Loud, a strong variant of cannabis, on Wednesday, 5th November. A follow-up operation in Abuja led to the arrest of the owner, Chukwunonso Anieze, 40, and the recovery of 175,000 pills of opioids.
Three more suspects Olayide Oyidiran, 39; Abdulsalam Abdulsalam, 28; and Opeyemi Tijjani, 39 were also arrested the same day at the Abuja/Kaduna tollgate while conveying 769 kilograms of skunk in a truck marked TRE 897 BE, reportedly en route from Lagos to Kano via Owo, Ondo State.
In Edo State, a 73-year-old man, James Ugbedo, was apprehended on Friday, 7th November, inside a large cannabis plantation located in Igbeshi forest, Imiakebo, Etsako East Local Government Area, where 1,459.75 kilograms of skunk were destroyed and 5.6 kilograms evacuated. Likewise, in Bayelsa State, a 70-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Comfort Odudu, was arrested with 5 kilograms of skunk at Onopa, Yenagoa, on Tuesday, 4th November.
Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns across the country, reaching schools, religious centres, transport unions, and workplaces. The week’s activities included awareness lectures at Transfiguration Seminary Secondary School, Abakaliki (Ebonyi State); Day Secondary School, Sabonkasuwa Kontagora (Niger State); Immanuel College High School (Senior), Ibadan (Oyo State); Government Girls Secondary School, Ilelah (Sokoto State); Government Day Secondary School, Namtari (Adamawa State); and among NURTW members in Birnin Kebbi (Kebbi State).
Commending the various commands involved including SOP, DFCM, Tincan, Edo, Taraba, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, and Bayelsa, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), praised their diligence and reaffirmed the Agency’s resolve to maintain a balanced strategy of enforcement and public sensitization.
“The dismantling of yet another clandestine laboratory for the production of Colorado and other dangerous synthetic substances and the arrest of the kingpin behind it in Lekki, coming barely a week after similar actions against another cartel in Ajao Estate, Lagos, shows that these are no doubt the first in a series of strikes against merchants of death who prey on the weak in our communities,” Marwa stated.
“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 down and bring them to justice,” he added.