11 Indian sailors, ship convicted, fined $6m for cocaine trafficking

11 Indian sailors and their merchant vessel have been convicted and fined $6million by the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State over cocaine trafficking.

This comes barely six months after their arrest by the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for importing 31.5 kilograms of cocaine from Marshall Islands into Nigeria through the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

The NDLEA took into custody the Indian crew members and their merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, following the discovery of 31.5 kilograms of cocaine in hatch 3 of the ship by NDLEA operatives at the GDNL terminal, Apapa port in Lagos on January 2, 2026.

The master of the vessel, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 10 other crew members – Bharati Manoj Kumar, Nevage Sandesh Suresh, Pandey Prashant, Nuttu Anand, Akash Babu, Nilesh Mukuno Bhalerad, Melethil Insaf Rahman, Barla Chantanya Krishna, Prabhasukhan Singu, and Jai Parkash – eventually arraigned on two counts charge in suit number
FHC/ L/56C/2026 before Joseph Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos.

After months before the court, the trial judge on Thursday, June 11, 2026, delivered his ruling on plea bargain terms filed by the prosecution and defence in the case.

As a result, all 12 defendants were convicted under Section 25 of the NDLEA Act and sentenced to pay the sum of N100,000 each which is the penalty for the offence under the Act. ⁠

In addition, the first defendant, which is the vessel, is to pay restitution to the federal government in the sum of $5,300,000 or its equivalent in naira.

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The three principal officers of the vessel who are the second, third, and fourth defendants (Bhushan, Bhalerad, and Rahman) are also to pay $100,000 each, while other crew members, the fifth to 12th defendants, are to pay their restitution in the sum of $50,000.

Reacting to the judgement, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (rtd), noted that the conviction of the vessel and its crew members sends a resounding message to every drug trafficking network in the world that “Nigeria is no longer a safe corridor for cocaine or any other illicit substance.”

Marwa added: “This judgement 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 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.”