The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has detained 22 Indian crew members of the merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, in connection with the seizure of 31.5 kilograms of cocaine at the GDNL terminal, Apapa Port, Lagos.
The seizure was made on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, the agency said in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi also disclosed that NDLEA operatives uncovered various quantities of ketamine, ecstasy and tramadol pills concealed in sachets of coffee mix and book parcels destined for Zambia and the United Kingdom.
According to the statement, the seizures were made at a courier company in Lagos on Dec. 24 and Dec. 29, 2025.
Babafemi said: “Those detained in connection with the discovery of the 31.5kg cocaine in hatch three of the ship, which originated from the Marshall Islands, include the master of the vessel, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 other crew members.”
He listed the suspects as Bharati Manoj Kumar, Bhalerao Nilesh Mukund, Nadar Anthony Macson David, Kolusu Srinivasa Rao, Sagar Gaurav, Francis Anto Beemas Nester, Jagdeep Singh, Jai Parkash and Prabhukhan Singh.
Babafemi added that others involved are 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.
The statement further said NDLEA operatives in Oyo State, on Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, arrested a wanted female drug kingpin, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as Mama Kerosine, described as “a major illicit drug distributor in Ibadan, the state capital.”
The agency said the 65-year-old woman was apprehended in “an intelligence-led operation following the seizure of 238.4kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, linked to her. She was arrested along with another female suspect, Olusanya Abosede, 35, at the Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan.”
Babafemi also said NDLEA operatives disrupted the supply chain of illicit drugs to insurgents with the arrest of two suppliers and the seizure of large consignments of illegal substances in Borno State.
The statement read: “While one of the suspects, Isa Mohammed, 26, was arrested by NDLEA operatives following the interception of 9,150 ampoules of Tramadol injection along Maiduguri-Gamboru Ngala Road on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, the other suspect, Musa Samaila, 30, was nabbed with 34,000 Tramadol capsules at Biu Market the same day.
“Not less than 400kg of skunk was recovered along with a van in the Mobolaji Johnson area of Lagos on New Year’s Day, Thursday, Jan. 1, while a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, 39, was arrested at a motor park in Hadejia town, Jigawa State, on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, while trying to transport 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8kg, which he procured from Taraba State, to Nguru, Yobe State.
“In Kwara State, NDLEA officers on Tuesday, Dec. 30, recovered 238.5kg of skunk from the home of a suspect in the Asadam area of Ilorin, while a total of 32,000 pills of Tramadol and Diazepam were seized from another suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, at Bode Saadu, Moro Local Government Area, on New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025.”
The arrests, the agency said, followed ongoing litigation involving 21 foreign nationals presided over by Justice Friday Ogazi of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
On Monday, the court extended the detention of the vessel, MV San Antonio, and its 21 crew members for another 14 days over allegations of smuggling 25.5 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria.
