- Arrests 73-year-old Grandpa, 70-year-old Grandma in Nationwide Crackdown
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a wanted drug kingpin, Yussuf Azeez, 40, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, while attempting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.
Azeez, who had been under months of surveillance, was arrested by operatives of the agency’s special operations unit last Thursday at about 6:30 a.m. A statement by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi revealed that the suspect was previously arrested in the United Kingdom for drug offences but jumped bail and fled to Nigeria, where he established a large-scale synthetic drug laboratory in the Lekki area of Lagos.
Following his arrest, operatives raided his clandestine lab located at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, where they dismantled production equipment and seized 148.3 kilograms of Colorado—a potent synthetic cannabis—alongside precursor chemicals and other illicit substances. A second suspect, Abideen Kekere-Ekun, 43, was also apprehended during the operation.
In a related development, a joint security team comprising NDLEA, Nigeria Customs Service, and other agencies uncovered 105.5kg of designer drug “Molly” and 500g of methamphetamine during a cargo inspection at Sifax Bonded Terminal, Okota, Lagos.
Nationwide, the NDLEA intensified its operations, intercepting large consignments of narcotics and arresting several suspects. In Niger State, operatives intercepted 87,000 tramadol pills and 72kg of skunk concealed in a Volvo truck along the Kainji–Wawa road. In Taraba, Felix Tanko Chinedu, 28, was caught with 15,020 tramadol capsules, while in Kogi, a follow-up operation led to the arrest of Chukwunonso Anieze, 40, with 7.6kg of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis.
Three suspects—Olayide Oyidiran (39), Abdulsalam Abdulsalam (28), and Opeyemi Tijjani (39)—were also arrested at the Abuja/Kaduna tollgate with 769kg of skunk transported from Lagos en route Ondo and Kano States.
In separate operations, NDLEA officers arrested a 73-year-old grandfather, James Ugbedo, at a cannabis farm in Igbeshi Forest, Imiakebo, Edo State, where 1,459.75kg of cannabis was destroyed. Similarly, a 70-year-old grandmother, Mrs. Comfort Odudu, was arrested with 5kg of skunk at Onopa, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the agency’s operatives for their relentless efforts, describing the latest dismantling of the Lekki drug lab as “another major strike against merchants of death who prey on the weak in our communities.”
Marwa urged officers to sustain their momentum, emphasizing that the agency, with support from local and international partners, “will continue to hunt down drug cartels and bring them to justice.”
