30-year old lab owner arrested after months of surveillance
Large cache of synthetic cannabis chemicals seized in Ajao Estate raid
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA have uncovered a clandestine laboratory where Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, is being produced in a residential building located at Ajao Estate, Isolo, Lagos.
NDLEA also recovered large quantities of freshly cooked Colos and various precursor chemicals used in drug production.
This was announced on Sunday in a statement by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, disclosing that a 30-year old lab owner, Stephen Kelechi Imoh, was arrested.
Babafemi said the discovery followed months of intelligence gathering on possible ‘Colos’ laboratories in Lagos after NDLEA officers intercepted consignments of freshly produced Colos in March and May 2025.
The development suggested that the dangerous psychoactive substance, which was previously imported into the country, was now being locally produced.
The effort paid off on Thursday, October 30, 2025, when NDLEA officers raided the residential apartment in Ajao Estate, Isolo, Lagos, which Kelechi had converted into a laboratory for producing Colos, a strain of cannabis made with the psychoactive plant and various chemicals. Items recovered from the apartment included freshly cooked Colos weighing 16.2 kilograms; ADB-CHMNACA Cannabinol – 1.7kg; Potassium Carbonate – 4.5kg; and Dibromobutane – 91 litres.
In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, November 1, raided the enclave of a 28-year old drug dealer, Afeez Salisu (alias Malu), in Mushin, where 16 compressed blocks of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, as well as designer sachets and bottles of Colorado weighing 16.4kg, were recovered.
A music artiste, Godspower George Osahenrumwen, whose stage name is Steady Boy, was arrested on Thursday, October 30, by NDLEA operatives while attempting to take delivery of a large consignment of Loud, a strain of cannabis, concealed inside three cartons of bathtubs imported along with other items such as clothes and gadgets from New York, United States.
The seizure followed the arrival of the shipment at the import shed of Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, from the US aboard a DHL flight on Tuesday, October 28.
The 20-year old music artiste was apprehended at Bougain Villa, Primewater Gardens 2, Freedom Way, Lekki, Lagos, when he appeared as the consignee to take delivery of 140 bags of Loud with a gross weight of 77.20kg on behalf of a syndicate, which includes his manager, Zion Osazee Omigie (alias Zee Money), who is currently at large.
In Kaduna, NDLEA operatives on patrol along 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 in Bauchi led to the arrest of the recipient, Musa Abdulkarim, 27.
Two days later, on Tuesday, October 28, operatives at the tollgate along the Abuja-Kaduna highway arrested Hamza Musa, 47, conveying 32,946 bottles of Akuskura, a New Psychoactive Substance (NPS), from Lagos, while Saidu Nafiu, 30, was nabbed with 131.5kg of skunk at Kamfanin Zangon Aya, Igabi LGA, Kaduna.
Three suspects – Seun Olaniyi, 24, Rauf Asogba, 28; and Ayinla Adeniyi, 50 – were arrested on Saturday, November1 , in Abeokuta, Ogun State, after a team of NDLEA officers tracked their movement from the Benin Republic and intercepted their bus along Abiola Way, Abeokuta, recovering a total of 1,779kg of skunk from them.
Jamilu Mustapha (alias Last Card), 46, was arrested with 596.4kg of skunk at Nasaru Town, Ningi LGA, Bauchi State, on Wednesday, October 29, while no fewer than 532,600 pills of Tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered from Halilu Amiru, Rabiu Maikudi, and Ibrahim Mati in a truck marked KTG-791 ZZ at Oko-Olowo, Ilorin, Kwara State, on the same day.
Similarly, operatives in Ondo State on Tuesday, October 28, recovered a total of 2,829kg of skunk linked to a 32-year-old female suspect, Mrs. Ige Olarewaju, from two locations at Ayede, Ogbese, while another suspect, Samuel Adebayo, was nabbed with 737kg of the same psychoactive substance at Adegbola Junction, Akure.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers on patrol along Okhokho-Isi community in Uhunmwode LGA on Wednesday, October 29, intercepted two Toyota Sienna buses marked EPE 545 EV and ABC 142 CD, conveying a total of 1,455kg of skunk following credible intelligence.