The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has uncovered a secret laboratory where Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, was being produced inside a residential building in Ajao Estate, Isolo, Lagos.
According to a statement on Sunday by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, operatives recovered large quantities of freshly made Colos and chemicals used in its production. A 30-year-old suspect, Stephen Kelechi Imoh, who owned the lab, was arrested during the operation.
Babafemi said the discovery followed months of intelligence gathering after officers intercepted several consignments of locally produced Colos earlier in the year, confirming that the drug was now being manufactured in Nigeria instead of being imported.
The NDLEA raided the apartment on Thursday, October 30, where it recovered 16.2 kilograms of freshly made Colos, 1.7 kilograms of ADB-CHMNACA Cannabinol, 4.5 kilograms of Potassium Carbonate, and 91 litres of Dibromobutane.
In a related operation in Mushin, Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, November 1, arrested a 28-year-old drug dealer, Afeez Salisu, also known as Malu, and recovered 16 compressed blocks of Ghana Loud and several bottles and sachets of Colorado weighing 16.4 kilograms.
The agency also arrested a music artist, Godspower George Osahenrumwen, popularly known as Steady Boy, who attempted to take delivery of a large consignment of Loud concealed inside cartons of bathtubs imported from New York. The 20-year-old was caught at his residence in Lekki while taking delivery of 140 bags of the drug weighing 77.20 kilograms. His manager, identified as Zion Osazee Omigie, is currently on the run.
In other operations across the country, NDLEA officers intercepted drugs and arrested suspects in Kaduna, Ogun, Edo, Ondo, Taraba, and Kwara States. The seizures included thousands of Tramadol pills, bottles of Akuskura, and several tonnes of skunk.
The NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the operatives for their efforts and vowed that the agency would continue to dismantle drug syndicates across the country.
He said the agency would ensure that those behind the criminal trade are denied profits from their illegal activities through asset forfeiture to the Federal Government.
