Lekki Businessmen Arrested for Drug Shipments to Nigeria

Italy’s Lekki Businessmen Linked to Drug Trafficking

​The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its crackdown on illicit drug trafficking, leading to the arrest of several individuals attempting to export narcotics from Nigeria to various international destinations, including the United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey, and Qatar.​

In November 2024, NDLEA operatives at Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos intercepted 13 parcels of cocaine weighing 4.4 kilograms destined for the UK via Frankfurt on a Lufthansa Airlines flight. The individual linked to this consignment, businessman Ekeocha Anayo Nelson, was apprehended on November 8.

In a related operation on November 11, another businessman, Adegbite Solomon (also known as “Obama”), was arrested at the Lagos airport while attempting to export 7,800 pills of tramadol, 180 tablets of rohypnol, and 60 bottles of codeine to Italy. The substances were concealed within food items and other goods. Solomon claimed to have previously traveled to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea, where he survived as a street beggar before venturing into the logistics business.

Further enforcement actions included the arrest of Anoke Kingsley Roomy on November 15 at Lagos airport’s Terminal 1. Roomy was found with 1,100 pills of tramadol 225mg hidden in his luggage while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Istanbul, Turkey.

In Abuja, NDLEA officers, acting on credible intelligence, raided a hotel room at the Federal Housing Authority estate in Lugbe on November 15. The operation resulted in the arrest of two suspects, Omeh Uchenna Jude, 36, and Anene Valentine Chigozie, 34, and the seizure of 1.8 kilograms of methamphetamine they were preparing to transport to Qatar.