Ten Filipino sailors and their merchant ship, the MV Nord Bosporus, were found guilty by a Federal High Court in Lagos and fined a total of six million US dollars ($6 million) with an additional penalty of one million one hundred thousand Naira (₦1.1 million).
According to reports, the court ruling was made just four months after they were detained by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) agents for bringing 20 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria via Lagos’ Apapa harbor from Santos, Brazil.
A team of NDLEA prosecutors led by the Agency’s Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Theresa Asuquo, filed a four-count criminal charge against the merchant vessel and its crew members in suit number FHC/L/1232C/25 at the Federal High Court 2 in Lagos after NDLEA officers found 20 kilograms of cocaine on board the ship on November 16, 2025, at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.
However, the ship and its Filipino crew—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—decided to enter a plea deal and admit guilt.
The trial judge, Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court 2, Lagos, found MV Nord Bosporus guilty of an offense under Section 25 of the NDLEA Act during his ruling on the plea bargain agreement on Wednesday, according to a statement released by NDLEA Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
The judge mandated that the ship reimburse the Federal Republic of Nigeria five million three hundred and fifty thousand US dollars and pay a penalty of ₦100,000 for the offense.
The three main officers of the ship, who are the second, third, and fourth defendants in the case, were also found guilty and sentenced to pay the Federal Republic of Nigeria ₦100,000.00 and a restitution of $100,000.00 each. Similarly, the fifth through eleventh defendants were found guilty and sentenced to pay N100,000.00 each in addition to a restitution of $50,000.00 each.
As a result, the vessel and its ten sailors now owe the Federal Government of Nigeria a total of $6 million in reparations and N1.1 million in penalties.
In response to the ruling, NDLEA Chairman Mohamed Buba Marwa stated that the conviction of the ship and her crew members shows that cartels are no longer able to operate in Nigerian territorial waters.
“It is a resounding victory for the rule of law and a powerful testament to the renewed vigor of the NDLEA in our mission to rid Nigeria of illicit drugs,” he declared.
Nigeria’s territorial seas are no longer a playground for the illegal drug trade, and the implementation of a $6 million punishment also serves as a stern and costly reminder to international drug traffickers and their local partners.
“Let this ruling serve as a clear warning to all shipping companies, ship owners, and sailors around the world that you will lose both your freedom and your property if you use your ships as floating drug storage facilities. We are now targeting the syndicates where it hurts most—their finances and operational assets—rather than just making seizures.
Additionally, he praised the NDLEA officers and personnel of the Agency’s Apapa Strategic Command for their diligence in locating the cocaine shipment concealed deep within the cargo of a large commodity ship.
Marwa also thanked Legal Services and the Directorate of Prosecution for their hard work in pursuing the matter.
“We thank the judiciary for the accelerated hearing of this case,” he continued. Every drug lord’s nightmare is the cooperation between the NDLEA and the courts, and we will keep fortifying this alliance until the final drug supply chain in Nigeria is destroyed,” he declared.
“We are not just fighting a crime; we are defending our nation’s security and the future of our youth, and in doing so, our technology is becoming more advanced, our intelligence networks are expanding, and our resolve is unbreakable.”
