ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has taken 22 Indian nationals into custody following the discovery of 31.5 kilograms of cocaine concealed aboard a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, at the GDNL Terminal, Apapa Port, Lagos.
The seizure, which occurred on Friday, January 2, 2026, led to the detention of the ship’s Master, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 other crew members, all of Indian nationality.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said the cocaine was recovered from hatch 3 of the vessel, which originated from the Marshall Islands.
Those detained alongside the vessel’s master include Bharati Manoj Kumar; Bhalerao Nilesh Mukund; Nadar Anthony Macson David; Kolusu Srinivasa Rao; Sagar Gaurav; Francis Anto Beemas Nester; Jagdeep Singh; Jai Parkash; Prabhukhan Singh; Nevage Sandesh Suresh; Pandey Prashant; Nittu Anand; Akash Babu; Dasari Raju; Reddy Nandika Sanjeeba; Rana Nivesh; Melethil Insaf Rahman; Barla Chantanya Krishna; Ghosh Arijit; Mondal Raihan; and Gangwar Shiv Om.
Babafemi disclosed that in a related operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted Ketamine, Ecstasy, and Tramadol pills concealed in sachets of coffee mix and parcels of books at a courier company in Lagos. The consignments were bound for Zambia and the United Kingdom and were intercepted on December 24 and 29, 2025.
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In Oyo State, NDLEA operatives on December 29, 2025, arrested a wanted female drug kingpin, Fatima Ilori, 65, popularly known as “Mama Kerosine,” described as a major distributor of illicit drugs in Ibadan.
Her arrest followed the seizure of 238.4 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis, linked to her operations. She was apprehended alongside Olusanya Abosede, 35, at the Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan.
In Borno State, the agency said it disrupted drug supply routes to insurgents with the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of large quantities of narcotics.
One suspect, Isa Mohammed, 26, was arrested along the Maiduguri-Gamboru Ngala road on Friday, January 2, 2026, with 9,150 ampoules of Tramadol injection.
Another suspect, Musa Samaila, 30, was arrested the same day at Biu Market with 34,000 capsules of Tramadol.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives recovered 400 kilograms of skunk and a van at the Mobolaji Johnson area on New Year’s Day.
Similarly, in Jigawa State, a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, 39, was arrested at a motor park in Hadejia on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, while allegedly attempting to transport 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8kg, reportedly sourced from Taraba State and destined for Nguru, Yobe State.
In Kwara State, NDLEA officers on Tuesday, December 30, 2025, recovered 238.5 kilograms of skunk from a suspect’s residence at the Asadam area of Ilorin, while 32,000 pills of Tramadol and Diazepam were seized from another suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, at Bode Saadu, Moro Local Government Area, on Wednesday, December 31, 2025.