Wanted Saudi-bound Drug Kingpin Azeez Nabbed At Lagos Airport

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, a 40-year-old wanted drug lord, at Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, as he attempted to travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah.

The arrest followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance on Azeez and his criminal drug network.

According to Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s spokesman, in a statement on Sunday, Azeez, previously arrested and charged in the United Kingdom for drug offences, had jumped bail and returned to Nigeria, where he established a massive clandestine laboratory in Lekki for the production of Colorado, a deadly synthetic cannabis, and other illicit substances.

On Thursday, 6th November 2025, NDLEA operatives intercepted him at the airport around 6:30 a.m.

He was immediately taken to his 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki laboratory, which had been under surveillance.

At the time of the raid, Azeez was found in the company of 43-year-old Abideen Kekere-Ekun. Agents from the NDLEA’s Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring dismantled all laboratory equipment and recovered 148.3 kilograms of Colorado, along with precursor chemicals.

In another operation at the Sifax bonded terminal in Okota, Lagos, NDLEA operatives, working alongside the Customs Service and other security agencies, seized 105.5 kilograms of Molly, a designer drug, and 500 grams of methamphetamine during a joint inspection of a shipment on 7th November.

In Niger State, operatives intercepted Ibrahim Mohammed, 35, conveying 87,000 tramadol pills and 72 kilograms of skunk cannabis along Kainji-Wawa Road. Similarly, in Taraba State, Felix Tanko Chinedu, 28, was arrested at Kasuwabera ATC, Ardo Kola LGA, with 15,020 capsules of tramadol.

In Kogi State, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Okene/Lokoja highway intercepted a consignment of 7.6 kilograms of Loud cannabis, leading to the arrest of the owner, Chukwunonso Anieze, 40, in Abuja, where another shipment containing 175,000 opioid pills was also recovered.

Three suspects were apprehended at the Abuja/Kaduna tollgate with 769 kilograms of skunk cannabis being transported from Lagos to Kano.

In Edo State, 73-year-old James Ugbedo was arrested at a cannabis plantation in Igbeshi forest, Etsako East LGA, where 1,459.75 kilograms of skunk were destroyed and 5.6 kilograms seized. In Bayelsa State, 70-year-old Comfort Odudu was apprehended with 5 kilograms of skunk at Onopa, Yenagoa.

NDLEA Chairman and CEO, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the successes of operatives across the country, describing the dismantling of Azeez’s Lekki laboratory as a significant milestone in the agency’s sustained offensive against organized drug trafficking.

“These operations, coming shortly after similar strikes against another cartel in Lagos, are the first in a series of strikes against merchants of death preying on our communities. The NDLEA, supported by local and international law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue these criminals and bring them to justice,” Marwa said.