NDLEA nabs wanted drug lord at Lagos Airport en route Saudi Arabia

NDLEA nabs wanted drug Lord at Lagos Airport en route Saudi Arabia

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 40-year-old wanted drug baron, Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, while he was attempting to board a flight to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, the Muslim lesser pilgrimage.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said Azeez’s arrest followed months of intensive intelligence gathering and surveillance on his drug trafficking activities.

According to Babafemi, the suspect had earlier been arrested and charged with drug offences in the United Kingdom but fled the country after jumping bail. Upon returning to Nigeria, Azeez reportedly established a large-scale clandestine laboratory in the Lekki area of Lagos for the production of Colorado, a potent synthetic cannabis, as well as other illicit drugs.

“At about 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, November 6, 2025, Yussuf walked into the waiting hands of NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport while attempting to board his flight to Saudi Arabia for Umrah,” Babafemi said. “He was immediately taken to his residence at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, which had been under surveillance as a suspected drug laboratory.”

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During the operation, NDLEA agents, supported by personnel from the Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring, dismantled the laboratory and recovered a large cache of illicit substances, including Colorado weighing 148.3 kilograms, as well as precursor chemicals and equipment. Another suspect, 43-year-old Abideen Kekere-Ekun, was also arrested at the scene.

In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives, working alongside officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, uncovered 105.5 kilograms of “Molly” (designer drug) and 500 grams of methamphetamine during a joint examination of a shipment at the Sifax Bonded Terminal in Okota, Lagos, on Friday, November 7.

The agency also recorded significant seizures in other parts of the country. In Niger State, operatives intercepted Ibrahim Mohammed, 35, on Thursday, November 6, along the Kainji–Wawa road with 87,000 tramadol pills and 72 kilograms of skunk concealed in a Volvo truck marked GRZ 872 XA.

Similarly, along the Zaki-Biam–Wukari road, NDLEA officers arrested Aliyu Samaila, 25, on Monday, November 3, with 34,520 tramadol capsules hidden in various compartments of a Toyota Corolla marked GAN 102 AR. The drugs were reportedly being transported from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Cameroon.

In another operation in Taraba State, operatives on Thursday, November 6, apprehended Felix Tanko Chinedu, 28, with 15,020 capsules of tramadol at Kasuwabera ATC in Ardo Kola Local Government Area.

Babafemi reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to dismantling drug syndicates across the country and bringing their masterminds to justice.

NDLEA nabs wanted drug Lord at Lagos Airport en route Saudi Arabia