Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted drug lord, Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, while attempting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia for Umrah pilgrimage. The 40-year-old suspect, who had previously jumped bail in the United Kingdom over drug-related offences, was apprehended after months of intelligence tracking by NDLEA’s Special Operations Unit.
According to a statement on Sunday, November 9, 2025, by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Azeez had established a clandestine laboratory at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, for the large-scale production of Colorado a potent synthetic cannabis and other illicit substances. At the point of arrest around 6:30am on Thursday, November 6, Azeez was in company of Abideen Kekere-Ekun (43). NDLEA forensic experts swiftly dismantled the lab, recovering 148.3 kilograms of Colorado and precursor chemicals used for production.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives, working with Customs and other security agencies at the Sifax Bonded Terminal, Okota, uncovered 105.5kg of Molly (a designer drug) and 500 grams of methamphetamine during a joint cargo examination on Friday, November 7. In Niger State, operatives intercepted Ibrahim Mohammed (35) with 87,000 tramadol pills and 72kg skunk concealed in a truck along Kainji–Wawa Road. Similarly, a Toyota Corolla car loaded with 34,520 tramadol capsules from Onitsha and heading to Cameroon was intercepted along Zaki-Biam–Wukari Road, leading to the arrest of the driver, Aliyu Samaila (25). In Taraba, Felix Tanko Chinedu (28) was caught with 15,020 tramadol capsules, while in Kogi, operatives seized 7.6kg of Loud along the Okene–Lokoja highway, which led to the arrest of Chukwunonso Anieze (40) in Abuja. Three other suspects, Olayide Oyidiran (39), Abdulsalam Abdulsalam (28), and Opeyemi Tijjani (39), were nabbed at the Abuja–Kaduna tollgate with 769kg skunk concealed in a truck coming from Lagos en route Owo and heading to Kano.
NDLEA also arrested two elderly suspects in separate raids. A 73-year-old grandpa, James Ugbedo, was apprehended at a cannabis plantation in Igbeshi forest, Edo State, where 1,459.75kg skunk was destroyed and 5.6kg evacuated. Similarly, a 70-year-old grandma, Mrs. Comfort Odudu, was caught with 5kg skunk in Onopa, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd.), commended the operatives for their resilience, describing the Lekki lab dismantling as another blow to “merchants of death who prey on the weak.” He said the arrest of the kingpin barely a week after a similar raid in Ajao Estate, Lagos, underscored NDLEA’s determination to smoke out every drug cartel in the country. “Supported by our local and international partners, the NDLEA will continue to hunt and bring them to justice,” Marwa declared.
Meanwhile, the Agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continued nationwide, with sensitization lectures held in schools, transport unions, and worship centres across Ebonyi, Oyo, Sokoto, Niger, Adamawa, and Kebbi States.
