Blue Economy
NDLEA Arraigns MV Nord Bosporus, 10 Filipino Crew Members Over 20kg Cocaine Seizure at Apapa Port
NDLEA Arraigns MV Nord Bosporus, 10 Filipino Crew Members Over 20kg Cocaine Seizure at Apapa Port
By Okeoghene Onoriobe, Waterways News Correspondent, Lagos
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arraigned a foreign-flagged vessel and its crew before the Federal High Court in Lagos, in what marks one of the agency’s most significant seaport drug interceptions in recent times.
The vessel MV Nord Bosporus and 10 Filipino nationals were arraigned on Monday before trial judge Justice Ayokunle Faji on charges of conspiracy and unlawful importation of 20 kilogrammes of cocaine into Nigeria.
Prosecution counsel Theresa Asuquo told the court that the defendants and the vessel were arrested on 16 November 2025 at the GDNL Terminal, Apapa Port, Lagos, where the cocaine was allegedly concealed beneath the ship’s cargo. She submitted that the acts contravene Sections 11(b) and 14(b) of the NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The ten defendants — Eugene Quinos Corpuz, Mark Joseph Jardiniano, Alexis Navidad Evarrola, Francis Gerard Niones Carpio, Franz Jude Mayran, Mahinay Junniel Lagura, Mario Ganiban Malvar, Hormachuelos Lordito Guivencan, Joshua Emmanuel Hufanda, and Edwin Baltazar Reyes — each entered pleas of not guilty to the four counts.
Plea Bargain in View
Notwithstanding the not-guilty pleas, the prosecution informed the court that a plea bargain agreement had already been executed in accordance with Section 270(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, and that it intends to file an amended charge.
Defence counsel Femi Atoyebi, SAN, confirmed the existence of the plea bargain arrangement and requested that a hearing date be fixed. By consent of both parties, Justice Faji adjourned the matter to Tuesday, 16 March, for further hearing.
How the Vessel Was Intercepted
The MV Nord Bosporus was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at Apapa Port in November last year. According to the agency, the vessel had sailed from Santos, Brazil, and was making its maiden call to Nigeria and the African continent, having previously operated on a coal-transport route between Colombia and Brazil. The ship’s master, Mr Corpuz, had been aboard the vessel for only three months at the time of the arrest.
Following the interception, the NDLEA secured a court order for a 14-day detention of the vessel and all 20 Filipino crew members to allow for thorough investigation, before charging the 10 defendants now before the court.
Pattern of Maritime Drug Trafficking
The MV Nord Bosporus case follows a similar incident in May 2025, when NDLEA operatives arrested 10 Thai sailors aboard the MV Chayanee Naree at an undisclosed Nigerian seaport. Those sailors were found with 32.9 kilogrammes of cocaine, also originating from Brazil.
NDLEA Chairman Buba Marwa, a retired brigadier-general, commended the Apapa Command and the Directorate of Seaport Operations for the interception. He warned that Nigeria’s ports are not a safe corridor for narcotics trafficking and reiterated the agency’s zero-tolerance posture toward drug smuggling.
Between January 2023 and March 2024 alone, the NDLEA seized over 207,976 kilogrammes of hard drugs across Nigerian seaports, with 167 suspects arrested — figures that underscore the scale of the challenge facing seaport enforcement authorities.
The Charges
The NDLEA’s charges allege that the suspects transported 20 kilogrammes of cocaine from Santos, Brazil to Nigeria on 16 November 2025, without lawful authority, contrary to Section 11(b) of the NDLEA Act. A second charge accuses them of conspiring between October and November 2025 to unlawfully transport and import the cocaine aboard the vessel, contrary to Sections 14(b) and 11(a) of the same Act.
Nigeria Watch
The arraignment of the MV Nord Bosporus and its crew throws a spotlight on Apapa Port as a frontline in Nigeria’s ongoing battle against maritime drug trafficking. That two vessels originating from Brazilian ports — one in 2024, one in 2025 — have now been intercepted with significant cocaine consignments suggests an emerging South America-to-West Africa shipping corridor being exploited by drug cartels.
For Nigerian maritime stakeholders, the implications are considerable. The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and terminal operators face growing pressure to tighten cargo inspection regimes, while the NDLEA’s Directorate of Seaport Operations is increasingly central to port security architecture. The involvement of foreign-flagged vessels and foreign nationals also raises questions about the adequacy of pre-arrival intelligence sharing between Nigerian agencies and international counterparts such as INTERPOL and the IMO’s maritime security network.
With Nigeria’s blue economy ambitions dependent in part on the perception of its ports as secure, reliable, and well-governed trade gateways, robust interdiction at the country’s seaports is not merely a law enforcement matter — it is an economic and reputational imperative.
