A Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted 11 Indian sailors and their merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, ordering them to pay a combined total of six million US dollars ($6,000,000) in fines and restitution for trafficking 31.5 kilogrammes of cocaine into Nigeria. The conviction comes barely six months after the crew members were taken into custody by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the GDNL Terminal, Apapa Port in Lagos.
Arrest and Discovery
Recall that the NDLEA announced the arrest of the merchant vessel and crew following the discovery of illicit narcotics meticulously concealed within hatch three of the ship after its arrival from the Marshall Islands on Friday, 2 January 2026. The drugs were hidden in a manner that required thorough inspection to uncover.
Court Ruling and Sentencing
Delivering his ruling on Thursday, the trial judge, Justice Joseph Chukwujekwu Aneke, adopted the plea bargain terms filed by both the prosecution and the defence teams in suit number FHC/L/56C/2026. Consequently, all 12 defendants were convicted under Section 25 of the NDLEA Act and sentenced to pay a fine of N100,000 each. In addition to the statutory fine, Justice Aneke ordered the first defendant, the vessel itself, to pay restitution to the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the sum of $5,300,000 or its equivalent in Naira.
The ship’s master, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, alongside two other principal officers, Nilesh Mukuno Bhalerad and Melethil Insaf Rahman, were ordered to pay $100,000 each in restitution to the Federal Government. The remaining eight crew members, Bharati Manoj Kumar, Nevage Sandesh Suresh, Pandey Prashant, Nuttu Anand, Akash Babu, Barla Chantanya Krishna, Prabhasukhan Singu, and Jai Parkash, were ordered to pay $50,000 each.
NDLEA Chairman's Statement
Reacting to the landmark judgement, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brigadier-General Mohamed Marwa (rtd), stated that the conviction sends a resounding warning to international maritime narcotics syndicates. Marwa said that “Nigeria is no longer a safe corridor for cocaine or any other illicit substance. This judgment is the third of its kind in recent times, following the convictions of foreign nationals and vessels on similar charges. Let it be known that these are not coincidences, they are the direct result of deliberate, intelligence led operations by our officers who remain vigilant at every port of entry.”
The NDLEA boss warned that the agency would continue to leverage the judiciary to impose severe financial and custodial penalties on international traffickers. “The NDLEA will not relent. Whether you come by air, land, or sea, whether you are a Nigerian or a foreign national, if you attempt to use our waters as a narcotics highway, you will face the full weight of Nigerian law. Our courts have spoken, and we will continue to give them reason to speak. The war against drug trafficking is one we are winning and we intend to keep it that way,” he adds in a statement.
General Marwa commended the operatives of the Apapa Strategic Command for detecting the concealed narcotics, as well as the agency’s Directorate of Prosecution and Legal Services for their diligence in securing the swift conviction.
