A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted 10 Filipino sailors alongside their merchant vessel, MV Nord Bosporus, over the importation of 20 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria.
The court imposed penalties amounting to Six Million US Dollars ($6 million) and One Million One Hundred Thousand Naira (₦1.1 million).
Details of the arrest were disclosed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in a statement issued on Wednesday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the agency, the suspects were apprehended on November 16, 2025, at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.
Following the seizure, the NDLEA filed a four-count charge in suit number FHC/L/1232C/25 before Federal High Court 2 in Lagos.
The prosecution was led by the agency’s Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Theresa Asuquo.
The vessel and its 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”—entered guilty pleas under a plea bargain arrangement.
In his judgment delivered on Wednesday, Justice Ayokunle Faji held that MV Nord Bosporus was culpable under Section 25 of the NDLEA Act.
“The judge ordered the vessel to pay the sum of N100,000 penalty for the offence and a restitution in the sum of Five Million Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand US dollars to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The court further ruled that the three senior officers, identified as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th defendants, should each pay a fine of ₦100,000 in addition to $100,000 restitution.
Other crew members, listed as defendants five through eleven, were also fined ₦100,000 each and directed to pay $50,000 restitution apiece. Altogether, the sanctions total $6 million and ₦1.1 million.
Responding to the ruling, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), described the outcome as “a resounding victory for the rule of law and a powerful testament to the renewed vigour of the NDLEA in our mission to rid Nigeria of illicit drugs.”
He added: “The imposition of a $6 million fine equally serves as a stark, expensive lesson to international drug cartels and their local collaborators that Nigeria’s territorial waters are no longer a playground for the illicit narcotics trade.”
Marwa further emphasised: “Let this judgment be an unambiguous signal to every shipping line, vessel owner, and sailor worldwide that if you turn your ships into floating warehouses for illicit drugs, you will not only lose your freedom but also your assets. We have moved beyond mere seizures; we are now hitting the syndicates where it hurts most, their pockets and their operational assets.”
He commended the Apapa Strategic Command of the NDLEA for uncovering the concealed cocaine, noting that the achievement, alongside similar cases such as that of MV Chayanee Naree, “shows that our ‘back-to-back’ strategy is yielding concrete results.”
Marwa also praised the Directorate of Prosecution and Legal Services as well as the judiciary for ensuring the “accelerated hearing of this case,” adding that “this synergy between the NDLEA and the courts is the nightmare of every drug baron, and we shall continue to strengthen this partnership until the last drug supply chain in Nigeria is dismantled.”
He concluded by reaffirming the agency’s resolve to protect national security and the younger generation: “We are not just fighting a crime; we are defending the future of our youth and the security of our nation, and in doing this, our intelligence networks are getting wider, our technology sharper, and our resolve is unbreakable.”
