Justice AyokunleFaji of the Federal High Court in Lagos, yesterday, convicted 10 Filipino sailors and their merchant vessel, MV Nord Bosporus, for trafficking 20kg of cocaine into the country.

The judge imposed a fine of $6 million and an additional penalty of N1.1 million for the offence.

The convicts pleaded guilty to a four-count criminal charge and entered a plea bargain in suit numbe r FHC/L/1232C/25 prosecuted by a team of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) led by the Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Theresa Asuquo.

The vessel and its Filipino sailors – Eugene QuinosCorpuz, Mark Joseph Jardiniano, Alexis Navidad Evarrola, Francis Gerard NionesCarpio, Franz Jude Mayran, MahinayJunnielLagura, Mario Ganiban Malvar, HormachuelosLorditoGuivencan, Joshua Emmanuel Hufanda and Edwin Baltazar Reyes – decided to plead guilty and enter a plea bargain.

Their conviction came four months after their arrest by NDLEA operatives for importing cocaine from Santos, Brazil, into Nigeria through the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

The vessel and its crew were arrested following the seizure of 20kg of cocaine on board at the Apapa seaport in Lagos on November 16, 2025.

Delivering his ruling on the plea bargain, Justice Faji found MV Nord Bosporu guilty of an offence under Section 25 of the NDLEA Act.

The judge ordered the vessel to pay a penalty of N100,000 for the offence and a restitution of $5,350,000 to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The three principal officers of the vessel, who are the 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants in the case, were also convicted and asked to pay N100,000 each as well as a restitution of $100,000 each to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The 5th to 11th defendants were equally convicted and asked to pay N100,000 each in addition to a restitution of $50,000 each.

This brings the total fine to be paid to the Federal Government by the vessel and its 10 sailors to $6 million and N1.1million as restitution and penalty respectively.

In response to the judgment, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohammed BubaMarwa (rtd), noted that the conviction of the vessel and its crew members “is 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 that “the imposition of $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 commended the officers and men of the Apapa Strategic Command of the agency for their vigilance in identifying the cocaine consignment buried deep within the cargo of a massive commodity vessel.

This success, coming on the heels of similar convictions like that of the MV ChayaneeNaree, he said, “shows that our ‘back-to-back’ strategy is yielding concrete results.”

He expressed appreciation to the Directorate of Prosecution and Legal Services for its diligence in the prosecution of the case and thanked the judiciary for the accelerated hearing of the case.

While expressing the unwavering resolve of the agency, Marwa said: “We are not just fighting a crime; we are defending the future of our youth and the security of our nation. In doing this, our intelligence networks are getting wider, our technology sharper and our resolve is unbreakable.”