NDLEA Drags Crew, Vessel to Court For Cocaine Smuggling

In the Federal High Court in Lagos, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has charged the owner of the ship, MV Cooper Island, and ten crew members for smuggling 24 kilograms of cocaine into Nigeria.

The following individuals, who are reportedly Ukrainian and Estonian, were arraigned alongside the vessel: Krasnoperov Oleksii, Enesa Julio (Jr) Pedrogosa, Nonan Ulysses Doria, Torino Jhundhel Adang, Alado Elpe De Pedro, Empedrado Ryan De Jesus, Liquit Niel Morris Auxtero, Akulov Oleg, Frugalidad Francis Cabaluna, and Duran Niel Stephen Dias.

The defendants were taken into custody on July 6, 2023, at Josepdam Port berthing Point, at Tin Can Island Port, Apapa, Lagos, according to the prosecution, Mrs. Josephine Obi, who testified in court.

Additionally, Obi asserted that the defendants colluded to unlawfully import the illegal drug from the Port of Santos in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.

Additionally, according to the prosecutor, the defendants’ actions violated sections 20 (1)(a) and section 14 (b) of the National Drug Law Enforcement Act Cap N30, which is part of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

To the charge, each defendant entered a not guilty plea.

After the defendants entered a plea, their attorneys pleaded with the court to let them keep the bail conditions that Justice Nicholas Oweibo had previously granted them during the court’s annual long vacation.

As per their attorneys, the bail conditions required every defendant to place the sum of $40,000 into a designated “escrow account.”

Following the prosecution’s certification that the funds had been deposited into the escrow account, Justice Ayotunde Faji, the trial judge, approved the terms.