By Nkechi Eze
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded another major victory in its relentless fight against illicit drug production and trafficking with the discovery of a clandestine laboratory in Lagos where Colorado, popularly known as “Colos,” a potent synthetic strain of cannabis, was being produced in large quantities. The discovery, which marks a significant escalation in the agency’s counter-narcotics operations, followed months of intelligence gathering on the rise of locally manufactured psychoactive substances in the state.
In a statement by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA said operatives stormed a residential building at Ajao Estate, Isolo, on Thursday, October 30, 2025, where 30-year-old Stephen Kelechi Imoh had converted his apartment into a full-scale laboratory for cooking synthetic cannabis. Recovered from the site were 16.2 kilograms of freshly produced Colos, 1.7 kilograms of ADB-CHMNACA Cannabinol, 4.5 kilograms of Potassium Carbonate, and 91 litres of Dibromobutane, all key chemicals used in the production process. The operation followed previous seizures of freshly made Colos in March and May 2025, which alerted the agency to the growing local production of a substance previously imported into the country.
In another Lagos operation, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, November 1, raided the Mushin enclave of 28-year-old drug dealer Afeez Salisu, also known as Malu, where 16 compressed blocks of Ghana Loud, designer sachets, and bottles of Colorado weighing 16.4 kilograms were recovered. The same week, a 20-year-old music artist, Godspower George Osahenrumwen, popularly known by his stage name Steady Boy, was arrested for attempting to take delivery of a large consignment of Loud concealed inside three cartons of imported bathtubs. The illicit shipment, which arrived aboard a DHL flight from New York on Tuesday, October 28, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, was disguised among clothing and electronic gadgets. NDLEA operatives apprehended the artist at his residence in Bougain Villa, Primewater Gardens 2, Freedom Way, Lekki, when he showed up as the consignee to collect 140 bags of Loud with a gross weight of 77.2 kilograms on behalf of a drug syndicate linked to his manager, Zion Osazee Omigie, also known as Zee Money, who is currently at large.
The agency’s nationwide operations during the week also led to several interceptions and arrests in Kaduna, Ogun, Edo, Kwara, Ondo, Taraba, and Bauchi States. In Kaduna, operatives patrolling the Abuja–Jos highway on Sunday, October 26, intercepted a consignment of 84,710 capsules of tramadol coming from Onitsha, Anambra State, and heading to Bauchi. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the recipient, 27-year-old Musa Abdulkarim, in Bauchi. Two days later, another suspect, 47-year-old Hamza Musa, was arrested at the Abuja–Kaduna highway tollgate while conveying 32,946 bottles of Akuskura, a dangerous new psychoactive substance, from Lagos. Similarly, 30-year-old Saidu Nafiu was nabbed with 131.5 kilograms of skunk at Kamfanin Zangon Aya, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
In Ogun State, NDLEA operatives arrested three suspects 24-year-old Seun Olaniyi, 28-year-old Rauf Asogba, and 50-year-old Ayinla Adeniyi after tracking their movement from Benin Republic to Abeokuta. The suspects were intercepted along Abiola Way in a bus loaded with 1,779 kilograms of skunk. In Bauchi, 46-year-old Jamilu Mustapha, popularly known as Last Card, was arrested with 596.4 kilograms of skunk in Nasaru town, Ningi Local Government Area. In Kwara State, the agency recovered 532,600 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 from a truck marked KTG-791 ZZ at Oko-Olowo, Ilorin, leading to the arrest of three suspects identified as Halilu Amiru, Rabiu Maikudi, and Ibrahim Mati.
Similarly, NDLEA officers in Edo State intercepted two Toyota Sienna buses with registration numbers EPE 545 EV and ABC 142 CD conveying 1,455 kilograms of skunk along Okhokho–Isi community in Uhunmwode Local Government Area. In Ondo State, operatives recovered 2,829 kilograms of skunk linked to a 32-year-old female suspect, Mrs. Ige Olarewaju, from two locations in Ayede, Ogbese, while another suspect, Samuel Adebayo, was arrested with 737 kilograms of the same substance at Adegbola Junction, Akure. In Lagos, NDLEA officers arrested 50-year-old Ige Oluwale at Ibereko, Badagry, with 76.5 litres of “skuchies” a mixture of black currant, skunk, and opioids, on Friday, October 31. In Taraba State, two suspects, 28-year-old Musbahu Abdullahi and 25-year-old Saleiman Ahmed, were apprehended at Wukari with 30,370 pills of tramadol and 177 grams of methamphetamine while transporting the drugs from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Yola, Adamawa State.
Beyond its enforcement operations, the agency sustained its ongoing War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaign with awareness lectures across the country. These included engagements with students and staff of Aroje/Abaa Community High School, Ogbomoso, in Oyo State; Amazing Flower Secondary School, Maya, Ikorodu, Lagos; Government Day Secondary Schools in Ilelah, Sokoto, and Darina, Gwiwa Local Government Area, Jigawa State; as well as Royal Star Academy, Hayin Gwarmai, Bebeji Local Government Area, Kano State, among others.
While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Kaduna, Edo, Kwara, Ogun, Taraba, Ondo, Seme, and Bauchi Commands for their resilience and professionalism, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), reiterated the agency’s determination to sustain its offensive against drug cartels and their networks across the country. He assured that the NDLEA would continue to identify, target, and dismantle drug syndicates, while ensuring that those involved in the criminal trade are stripped of their illicit assets.
Marwa emphasized that the agency would not relent in its resolve to safeguard Nigeria from the scourge of drug abuse and illicit trafficking, warning that all proceeds of drug-related crime will be traced, seized, and forfeited to the Federal Government. His assurance reflects the agency’s unwavering commitment to deny traffickers the benefits of their criminal enterprise while consolidating on its operational momentum in all regions of the country.
