Nigeria’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has detained 22 Indian crew members of a merchant vessel after uncovering 31.5 kilograms of cocaine at Apapa Port in Lagos, as authorities also announced the interception of other illicit drugs concealed in coffee sachets and book parcels bound for Europe and southern Africa.
The NDLEA said the sailors, all crew members of the vessel MV Aruna Hulya, were taken into custody on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, after operatives discovered the cocaine hidden in hatch three of the ship during an inspection at the GDNL terminal. The vessel, the agency said, originated from the Marshall Islands.
In a statement issued Sunday, NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy Femi Babafemi said those detained include the ship’s master, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 other crew members. He identified the suspects as Bharati Manoj Kumar, Bhalerao Nilesh Mukund, Nadar Anthony Macson David, Kolusu Srinivasa Rao, Sagar Gaurav, Francis Anto Beemas Nester, Jagdeep Singh, Jai Parkash and Prabhukhan Singh, alongside Nevage Sandesh Suresh, Pandey Prashant, Nittu Anand, Akash Babu, Dasari Raju, Reddy Nandika Sanjeeba, Rana Nivesh, Melethil Insaf Rahman, Barla Chantanya Krishna, Ghosh Arijit, Mondal Raihan and Gangwar Shiv Om.
Babafemi said the port seizure was part of a wider crackdown that also exposed sophisticated concealment methods used by drug traffickers operating through courier networks. NDLEA operatives, he said, intercepted consignments of ketamine, ecstasy and tramadol pills hidden inside sachets of coffee mix and book parcels at a courier company in Lagos on Dec. 24 and Dec. 29, 2025. The packages were destined for Zambia and the United Kingdom.
Authorities say the discoveries underscore Nigeria’s growing role as both a transit hub and target market for international drug trafficking syndicates, particularly those exploiting maritime routes and commercial shipping to move narcotics across continents.
Beyond Lagos, the agency reported multiple arrests across the country in what it described as intelligence-led operations. In Oyo State, NDLEA officers on Dec. 29 arrested a wanted drug kingpin, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as “Mama Kerosine,” whom the agency described as a major distributor in Ibadan. Babafemi said the 65-year-old was apprehended following the seizure of 238.4 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, linked to her activities. Another suspect, Olusanya Abosede, 35, was also arrested during the operation in the Onireke–Elekuro area of the city.
The agency said its operatives also disrupted drug supply lines allegedly linked to insurgent networks in the northeast. In Borno State, Babafemi said, a 26-year-old suspect, Isa Mohammed, was arrested along the Maiduguri–Gamboru Ngala Road on Jan. 2 with 9,150 ampoules of tramadol injection. Another suspect, Musa Samaila, 30, was detained the same day at Biu Market with 34,000 tramadol capsules.
Additional seizures were reported nationwide, including the recovery of nearly 400 kilograms of skunk and a van in the Mobolaji Johnson area of Lagos on New Year’s Day, and the arrest of Bilya Ibrahim, 39, in Hadejia, Jigawa State, on Dec. 30 while allegedly transporting 140.8 kilograms of cannabis from Taraba State to Yobe State. In Kwara State, NDLEA officers recovered 238.5 kilograms of skunk from a residence in Ilorin and seized 32,000 pills of tramadol and diazepam from a suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, at Bode Saadu in Moro Local Government Area on Dec. 31.
The latest arrests come amid ongoing legal proceedings involving foreign nationals accused of drug smuggling through Nigerian ports. A Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice Friday Ogazi, on Monday extended the detention of another vessel, MV San Antonio, and its 21 crew members for an additional 14 days over allegations of smuggling 25.5 kilograms of cocaine into the country. The Nigeria Customs Service said that vessel was intercepted at Apapa Port on Dec. 6, 2025, after arriving from Brazil with the drugs allegedly concealed in a bulk shipment of sugar.
Security analysts say the series of seizures reflects mounting pressure on Nigerian authorities to clamp down on maritime trafficking routes, even as traffickers adopt increasingly elaborate methods to evade detection. NDLEA officials say investigations into the Apapa Port seizure and related cases remain ongoing.
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