The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a clandestine laboratory used for producing “Colorado,” a highly potent synthetic strain of cannabis, inside a residential building in Ajao Estate, Isolo, Lagos State.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, revealed this in a statement on Sunday, confirming the arrest of 30-year-old Stephen Kelechi Imoh, the alleged owner of the illegal laboratory. Babafemi explained that the operation followed several months of intensive intelligence gathering and surveillance targeting local production sites of the psychoactive drug.
According to him, the discovery came after NDLEA operatives intercepted multiple consignments of Colorado in March and May 2025, raising suspicions that the drug, previously imported, was now being manufactured within Nigeria.
“Recovered from the apartment include freshly cooked Colos weighing 16.2 kilograms, ADB-CHMNACA Cannabinol (1.7kg), Potassium Carbonate (4.5kg), and 91 litres of Dibromobutane,” the agency said. These chemicals are known precursors used in the production of synthetic cannabis.
The agency said that on October 30, 2025, NDLEA officers stormed the residential building in Ajao Estate, which Imoh had allegedly converted into a production lab for the illicit drug.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives also raided the hideout of a suspected drug dealer, 28-year-old Afeez Salisu, also known as “Malu,” in the Mushin area of Lagos. During the raid, they recovered 16 compressed blocks of Ghana Loud and several sachets and bottles of Colorado weighing 16.4 kilograms.
What you should know
The NDLEA’s discovery of a local Colorado production lab marks a major shift in Nigeria’s drug landscape, showing that traffickers are now manufacturing synthetic cannabis domestically rather than importing it.
This breakthrough underscores the agency’s determination to curb the spread of designer drugs that pose growing risks to public health and safety.
