Saudi-Bound Drug Kingpin Arrested at Lagos Airport, NDLEA Dismantles Massive Lekki Cocaine Lab
A wanted drug lord, Yussuf Abayomi Azeez (40), was dramatically arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, as he attempted to board a flight to Saudi Arabia for the holy pilgrimage of Umrah. Azeez, who previously jumped bail on drug charges in the United Kingdom, had been under intense intelligence and surveillance by NDLEA’s special operations unit for months, following his establishment of a massive clandestine laboratory in the Lekki area of Lagos.
Immediately following the arrest, NDLEA operatives swiftly moved Azeez to his hidden facility at 17 Vincent Eku street, Ogombo, Lekki. The Agency’s Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring dismantled the entire laboratory, seizing all equipment, precursor chemicals, and already produced illicit substances, including 148.3 kilograms of Colorado—a deadly synthetic cannabis. Another suspect, 43-year-old Abideen Kekere-Ekun, was arrested alongside the kingpin during the Thursday morning raid.
The operation is part of a series of successful strikes against drug cartels across the country. In a joint operation at the Sifax bonded terminal in Okota, Lagos, NDLEA and Customs officials recovered 105.5kg of Molly (a designer drug) and 500 grams of methamphetamine from a shipment. Separately, operations in Niger State intercepted 87,000 pills of tramadol and 72kg of skunk, while another 34,520 tramadol capsules heading from Onitsha to Cameroon were intercepted in Taraba.
Significantly, the NDLEA operations also netted two elderly suspects in separate incidents: 73-year-old James Ugbedo was arrested in a cannabis plantation in Edo State where 1,459.75kg of skunk was destroyed, and 70-year-old Mrs. Comfort Odudu was nabbed in Bayelsa with 5kg of skunk. These arrests, alongside major interdictions of opioids and skunk along major highways like the Abuja/Kaduna tollgate, underscore the agency’s widespread enforcement efforts.
Commending the officers, Chairman/CEO of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), affirmed the agency’s balanced approach to drug control. He warned that the dismantling of this clandestine lab, barely a week after a similar bust, signals the beginning of numerous actions against “merchants of death.” Marwa declared that the NDLEA will continue to hunt and bring to justice all those preying on communities through illicit drug activities.
