LAGOS — Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have uncovered a clandestine laboratory where “Colos,” a synthetic strain of cannabis, was being produced inside a residential building in Ajao Estate, Isolo, Lagos.
The agency said large quantities of freshly cooked Colos and precursor chemicals were recovered from the lab, and a 30-year-old suspect, Stephen Kelechi Imoh, was arrested.
According to NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, the discovery followed months of intelligence gathering after officers intercepted consignments of freshly produced Colos in March and May 2025 — an indication that the previously imported psychoactive substance was now being produced locally.
“The effort paid off on Thursday, Oct. 30, when our officers raided the residential apartment in Ajao Estate, which had been converted into a laboratory for cooking Colos,” Babafemi said.
Recovered items included 16.2 kilograms of freshly cooked Colos, 1.7 kilograms of ADB-CHMNACA Cannabinol, 4.5 kilograms of Potassium Carbonate, and 91 liters of Dibromobutane.
In another operation in Lagos on Saturday, Nov. 1, NDLEA operatives raided the enclave of a 28-year-old dealer, Afeez Salisu (alias Malu), in Mushin, where they seized 16 compressed blocks of “Ghana Loud” cannabis and designer sachets and bottles of Colorado weighing 16.4 kilograms.
A music artist, Godspower George Osahenrumwen, known by his stage name Steady Boy, was also arrested on Thursday, Oct. 30, while attempting to take delivery of a consignment of Loud concealed in three cartons of bathtubs imported from New York, United States.
Babafemi said the 20-year-old suspect was arrested at Bougain Villa, Primewater Gardens 2, Lekki, Lagos, when he appeared to collect the 140 bags of Loud weighing 77.2 kilograms on behalf of a syndicate led by his manager, Zion Osazee Omigie (alias Zee Money), who remains at large.
The shipment had earlier been intercepted by NDLEA officers at the import shed of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, aboard a DHL flight from New York on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
In Kaduna State, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Abuja–Jos highway on Sunday, Oct. 26, intercepted 84,710 capsules of tramadol en route from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Bauchi. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of the recipient, Musa Abdulkarim, 27, in Bauchi.
Two days later, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, operatives arrested Hamza Musa, 47, at the Abuja–Kaduna highway tollgate with 32,946 bottles of Akuskura, a new psychoactive substance, while Saidu Nafiu, 30, was caught with 131.5 kilograms of skunk in Igabi Local Government Area.
In Ogun State, three suspects — Seun Olaniyi, 24; Rauf Asogba, 28; and Ayinla Adeniyi, 50 — were arrested on Saturday, Nov. 1, in Abeokuta after being tracked from Benin Republic. Officers intercepted their bus along Abiola Way with 1,779 kilograms of skunk.
In Bauchi, NDLEA arrested Jamilu Mustapha (alias Last Card), 46, with 596.4 kilograms of skunk in Ningi LGA on Wednesday, Oct. 29. The same day, officers in Kwara State seized 532,600 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 from three suspects — Halilu Amiru, Rabiu Maikudi, and Ibrahim Mati — at Oko-Olowo, Ilorin.
Edo State operatives intercepted two Toyota Sienna buses carrying 1,455 kilograms of skunk along Okhokho–Isi community, Uhunmwode LGA, on Oct. 29.
In Ondo State, a 32-year-old woman, Mrs. Ige Olarewaju, was linked to 2,829 kilograms of skunk recovered from two locations in Ayede, Ogbese, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, while Samuel Adebayo was arrested with 737 kilograms of the same substance in Akure.
NDLEA officers also arrested Ige Oluwale, 50, with 76.5 liters of skuchies, a mixture of blackcurrant, skunk, and opioids, at Ibereko, Badagry, Lagos, on Friday, Oct. 31. In Taraba, Musbahu Abdullahi, 28, and Saleiman Ahmed, 25, were caught with 30,370 tramadol pills and 177 grams of methamphetamine in Wukari while transporting the drugs from Onitsha to Yola.
Meanwhile, the agency continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization campaigns nationwide, holding lectures at schools and community centers in Oyo, Lagos, Sokoto, Jigawa, and Kano states.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd.) commended the officers involved for their professionalism and resilience.
“The Agency will continue to target and dismantle every identified drug syndicate in any part of Nigeria while ensuring that they forfeit all traceable assets to the Federal Government,” Marwa said.
