The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has seized 20 kilograms of cocaine concealed aboard a foreign vessel that arrived Nigeria from Brazil, marking another major breakthrough in the country’s fight against transnational drug trafficking.
The illicit shipment was uncovered on Sunday, November 16, during a routine inspection of MV Nord Bosporus (IMO 97601110), which sailed into the Apapa seaport from Santos, Brazil. According to a statement released on Friday by NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the drugs were hidden beneath the ship’s cargo.
Following the discovery, operatives arrested the vessel’s Master, Captain Quino Eugene Corpus, alongside all 19 Filipino crew members. The agency subsequently filed an ex parte application seeking judicial approval to detain the ship and its crew pending investigation.
Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court in Lagos, on Thursday, November 20, granted an initial 14-day detention order.
Preliminary findings, according to the NDLEA, show that the Nord Bosporus was making its first-ever voyage to Nigeria or any African port. Investigators also revealed that the ship had mainly transported coal between Colombia and Brazil, with its captain in command for only three months.
The agency noted that the latest seizure comes barely six months after a Federal High Court convicted 10 Thai sailors and their vessel, MV Chayanee Naree, for trafficking 32.9kg of cocaine into Nigeria in 2021. The sailors were in May 2025 fined $4.3 million alongside Nigerian accomplices.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the Apapa Command for the interception, describing it as evidence of the agency’s heightened vigilance and improved operational capacity.
“This cocaine seizure is not just an operational success but a clear demonstration of our heightened capacity and unwavering resolve,” Marwa said. “Let this be an unambiguous message to every international drug cartel and internal collaborator: Nigeria is not, and will never be, your foothold.”
He warned Nigerians involved in aiding foreign trafficking networks, stressing that the consequences would be “severe and unrelenting,” including the dismantling of their structures and seizure of illicit assets.
The NDLEA said investigations are ongoing to identify the full network behind the cocaine shipment and determine the roles of those on board the vessel.
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