Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a 40-year-old wanted drug kingpin, Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos.
According to a statement released by the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the drug Lord was apprehended by operatives of the agency’s special operations unit while attempting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, a holy pilgrimage.
His arrest followed months of intelligence gathering and surveillance on his alleged drug trafficking network.
The NDLEA disclosed that Azeez had previously been arrested and charged for drug offences in the United Kingdom, but jumped bail and fled to Nigeria, where he resumed his criminal operations.
Upon returning to Lagos, Azeez reportedly established a large-scale clandestine laboratory in the Lekki area of the state, specializing in the production of Colorado, a potent synthetic form of cannabis, along with other illicit substances.
At about 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 6, NDLEA operatives intercepted Azeez at the Lagos airport. He was immediately taken to his clandestine lab located at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, which had been under surveillance for weeks.
During the raid, NDLEA officials also arrested 43-year-old Abideen Kekere-Ekun, who was found in the company of the suspect. Inside the building, operatives from the Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring dismantled a wide array of laboratory equipment, precursor chemicals, and already processed drugs, including 148.3 kilograms of Colorado.
The agency stated that Azeez’s arrest marks a major breakthrough in its ongoing crackdown on synthetic drug production and trafficking networks in Nigeria.
