Operatives of the NDLEA have intercepted a vessel, MV Nord Bosporus (9760110), which arrived from the Port of Santos in Brazil, with 20 kilograms of cocaine concealed beneath its cargo. The interception happened at the Apapa seaport in Lagos on Sunday, November 16, 2025.
The vessel’s Master, Captain Quino Eugene Corpus, was taken into custody, along with 19 Filipino crew members, for interrogation upon the discovery. The NDLEA approached the Federal High Court in Lagos to seek an order of detention for the suspects and the ship pending further investigation.
The application, filed as suit number FHC/L/MISC/1306/25, came before Justice Musa Kakaki, who on Thursday, November 20, 2025, granted an initial detention order for 14 days for the vessel and its crew.
NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi confirmed that initial investigations showed the vessel was on its maiden voyage to Nigeria and Africa, having plied the Colombian and Brazilian routes, ferrying coal. The captain, Corpus too is relatively new to the ship, having joined three months ago.
This seizure comes barely six months after a Federal High Court in Lagos convicted 10 Thai sailors arrested in October 2021 for trafficking 32.9kg of cocaine aboard MV Chayanee Naree from Brazil. The sailors and their vessel were fined $4.3 million in May 2025 alongside nine Nigerian suspects arrested in the same operation.
Reacting to the latest development, NDLEA chairman and chief executive, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the Strategic Command at Apapa and the Directorate of Seaport Operations for vigilance and professionalism. He described the arrest as evidence of the agency’s growing operational strength and determination. In the same vein, Marwa had reiterated the agency’s commitment to intensifying surveillance at all entry and exit points, particularly seaports, which transnational drug syndicates have continually attempted to exploit.
