The NDLEA Has Intercepted a Vessel Arriving from Brazil Carrying 20kg Of Cocaine. Twenty Filipino Nationals on Board Have Been Taken into Custody for Investigation.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have intercepted a Brazil-bound vessel, MV Nord Bosporus (IMO 9760110), with 20 kilogrammes of cocaine at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

The drug consignment was discovered on Sunday, November 16, 2025, hidden beneath the ship’s cargo.

In a statement released on Friday, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, confirmed that the NDLEA detained the vessel’s Master, Captain Quino Eugene Corpus, along with 19 crew members, all of whom are Filipinos.

Babafemi added that, following the arrests, the agency obtained a court order to hold the vessel and its crew for further investigation. According to him, Justice Musa Kakaki of the Federal High Court in Lagos granted an initial 14-day detention order in suit number FHC/L/MISC/1306/25 on Thursday, November 20, 2025.

Preliminary findings revealed that the MV Nord Bosporus was visiting Nigeria and the African continent for the first time. Investigators also noted that the ship mainly transports coal between Colombia and Brazil, and that Captain Corpus had been in charge for just about three months.

This development comes six months after 10 Thai sailors aboard the MV Chayanee Naree were convicted for attempting to smuggle 32.9 kilogrammes of cocaine from Brazil into Nigeria through the same port. On May 15, 2025, the Federal High Court in Lagos imposed a $4.3 million fine on both the sailors and the vessel.

The NDLEA Chairman, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (retd.), applauded the Apapa Command and the Directorate of Seaport Operations for the successful seizure, describing it as further proof of the agency’s strengthened operations and resolve to secure Nigeria’s entry points.

He stressed that international drug cartels and their local collaborators would continue to meet stiff resistance. According to him, Nigeria will not serve as a route or base for illicit drug trafficking, regardless of the method or point of entry.

Marwa also warned Nigerians involved with foreign drug syndicates that they would face severe criminal consequences.

Earlier data from the NDLEA showed that the agency seized 207,976 kilogrammes of hard drugs across various seaports in the country between January 2023 and March 2024. The agency also recorded the arrest of 14 suspects with 16.69kg of cocaine and 11,622.229kg of cannabis sativa in the first quarter of 2024, while 167 persons were apprehended with 196,336.99kg of assorted drugs between January and October 2023.