Suspected drug baron nabbed on way to S/Arabia for umrah

A wanted drug kingpin, 40-year-old Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, has been arrested by operatives of a special operations unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. He was arrested while on his way to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, a holy pilgrimage. The arrest follows months of intelligence […]

A wanted drug kingpin, 40-year-old Yussuf Abayomi Azeez, has been arrested by operatives of a special operations unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.

He was arrested while on his way to Saudi Arabia for Umrah, a holy pilgrimage.

The arrest follows months of intelligence gathering and surveillance on his criminal drug activities.

A statement by the Agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, alleged the drug kingpin had previously been arrested and charged for drug offences in the United Kingdom but jumped bail and escaped to Nigeria.

According to the statement, soon after settling down in Lagos, he set up a massive clandestine laboratory in the Lekki area of the state for the production of Colorado, a deadly synthetic cannabis, and other illicit substances.

The statement said at about 6:30 am on Thursday, November 6, Yussuf walked into the waiting hands of NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport while attempting to board his flight.

He was swiftly driven to his clandestine laboratory, located at 17 Vincent Eku Street, Ogombo, Lekki, which had been under surveillance.

The statement quoted Babafemi as saying: “At the time of his arrest, Yussuf was found in the company of another suspect, 43-year-old Abideen Kekere-Ekun.

“Inside the massive building, operatives from the Agency’s Directorate of Forensic and Chemical Monitoring successfully dismantled all installed laboratory equipment and recovered precursor chemicals and already-produced illicit substances, including Colorado, all weighing 148.3 kilograms.”