The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a major drug production network after uncovering a clandestine laboratory used for producing “Colos,” a synthetic strain of cannabis in Lagos, while intercepting multiple shipments of hard drugs and arresting suspects, including a music artist, across several states.
In a statement released on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, confirmed that operatives of the agency uncovered a secret laboratory used for the production of Colorado popularly called “Colos” in a residential building located at Ajao Estate, Isolo, Lagos. The discovery followed months of intelligence gathering after NDLEA officers intercepted locally produced consignments of Colos in March and May 2025.
The operation, conducted on Thursday, October 30, 2025, led to the arrest of 30-year-old suspect, Stephen Kelechi Imoh, believed to be the mastermind and owner of the illicit lab. Recovered from the site were 16.2 kilograms of freshly cooked Colos, 1.7 kilograms of ADB-CHMNACA Cannabinol, 4.5 kilograms of Potassium Carbonate, and 91 litres of Dibromobutane all key ingredients used in the production of synthetic cannabis.
Babafemi noted that the laboratory bust was part of NDLEA’s ongoing crackdown on local drug production networks that have begun manufacturing previously imported psychoactive substances.
In another operation in Lagos on Saturday, November 1, 2025, NDLEA operatives stormed the Mushin hideout of 28-year-old drug dealer, Afeez Salisu, alias Malu, where 16 compressed blocks of Ghana Loud and several sachets and bottles of Colorado weighing 16.4 kilograms were recovered.
The agency also arrested a 20-year-old music artist, Godspower George Osahenrumwen, popularly known as Steady Boy, for attempting to collect a large consignment of Loud a strain of cannabis concealed inside three cartons of bathtubs imported from New York, United States. The interception, made at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) import shed in Ikeja, involved 140 bags of Loud weighing 77.20 kilograms.
Steady Boy was arrested at Bougain Villa, Primewater Gardens 2, Lekki, Lagos, while attempting to take delivery of the package on behalf of a drug syndicate that includes his manager, Zion Osazee Omigie (alias Zee Money), who is currently on the run.
Across Nigeria, NDLEA operatives executed multiple coordinated raids and highway interceptions, seizing large quantities of drugs and arresting traffickers in Kaduna, Bauchi, Kwara, Edo, Ogun, Ondo, and Taraba States.
- In Kaduna, officers patrolling the Abuja–Jos highway on October 26 intercepted a consignment of 84,710 tramadol capsules from Onitsha, Anambra State, en route to Bauchi. A follow-up operation in Bauchi led to the arrest of 27-year-old Musa Abdulkarim, the intended recipient.
- Two days later, on October 28, NDLEA operatives arrested 47-year-old Hamza Musa at the Abuja–Kaduna tollgate for transporting 32,946 bottles of Akuskura, a new psychoactive substance, from Lagos. Another suspect, Saidu Nafiu (30), was caught with 131.5 kilograms of skunk in Igabi LGA, Kaduna.
- In Ogun State, three suspects Seun Olaniyi (24), Rauf Asogba (28), and Ayinla Adeniyi (50) were intercepted with 1,779 kilograms of skunk after tracking their movements from the Benin Republic.
- NDLEA also apprehended 46-year-old Jamilu Mustapha (alias Last Card) in Bauchi with 596.4 kilograms of skunk, while in Kwara State, officers recovered 532,600 pills of tramadol and exol-5 from a truck at Oko-Olowo, Ilorin.
- In Edo State, two Toyota Sienna buses carrying 1,455 kilograms of skunk were intercepted at Okhokho–Isi community in Uhunmwode LGA on October 29.
- Similarly, NDLEA operatives in Ondo State seized 2,829 kilograms of skunk linked to 32-year-old Mrs. Ige Olarewaju at two locations in Ogbese and arrested Samuel Adebayo with 737 kilograms of the same substance.
- In Lagos, 50-year-old Ige Oluwale was arrested at Badagry with 76.5 litres of Skuchies, a mixture of blackcurrant, skunk, and opioids.
- In Taraba State, 28-year-old Musbahu Abdullahi and 25-year-old Saleiman Ahmed were arrested in Wukari with 30,370 pills of tramadol and 177 grams of methamphetamine en route from Onitsha to Yola.
In addition to enforcement operations, NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns across Nigeria. Educational lectures and outreach programs were held at schools, religious centers, and communities, including:
- Aroje/Abaa Community High School, Ogbomoso (Oyo State)
- Amazing Flower Secondary School, Ikorodu (Lagos)
- Government Day Secondary School, Ilelah (Sokoto)
- Government Day Secondary School, Darina (Jigawa)
- Royal Star Academy, Kano State
The NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Kaduna, Edo, Kwara, Ogun, Taraba, Ondo, Seme, and Bauchi Commands for their “resilience, professionalism, and balanced approach” in sustaining Nigeria’s anti-drug war.
Marwa reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to dismantling drug syndicates and confiscating assets linked to criminal drug trade.
“The NDLEA will continue to identify and dismantle every drug network operating within and beyond our borders. We will ensure that traffickers and their sponsors lose both their freedom and their proceeds,” Marwa vowed.
The NDLEA’s latest operations underscore its intensified campaign against drug trafficking and synthetic drug production in Nigeria. With laboratories now emerging within urban areas, the agency reiterated that it will continue to employ intelligence-led tactics and inter-agency cooperation to curb the menace and safeguard public health.
