COCAINE CRACKDOWN UPDATE: NDLEA Releases Names Of 22 Seafarers Aboard MV Aruna Hulya
By Roland Ekama
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has revealed the names of seafarers on board MV Aruna Hulya following a recent cocaine seizure at the Greenview Development Nigeria Limited (GDNL) terminal, Lagos Ports Complex LPC, Apapa .
In a statement on Sunday, January 4th, 2026, Femi Babafemi, Director of Media & Advocacy, unveiled the arrests from the previous Friday. “Operatives at GDNL terminal, Apapa port, have taken into custody 22 Indian crew members of the merchant vessel MV Aruna Hulya following the seizure of 31.5 kilogrammes of cocaine from hatch 3,” he said.
The spokesman named the Master of the Vessel, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, along with 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, and Akash Babu.
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Others include Dasari Raju, Reddy Nandika Sanjeeba, Rana Nivesh, Melethil Insaf Rahman, Barla Chantanya Krishna, Ghosh Arijit, Mondal Raihan, and Gangwar Shiv Om.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the operatives, urging them to “intensify the efforts.” For the named 22 seafarers, headlines in India and Nigeria have thrust their lives into the spotlight—adrift in a storm of suspicion as their innocence or guilt awaits the scales of justice.
Recall that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Apapa Area Command, in collaboration with the NDLEA, intercepted 30 slabs of cocaine weighing 30.1 kilograms concealed onboard the MV Aruna, a Marshall Islands-flagged vessel.
A statement from the service over the weekend disclosed that the seizure occurred on Friday, January 2, 2026—the first working day of the new year—at the Greenview Terminal within Apapa Port, Lagos.
The illicit substance was carefully hidden aboard the ship, underscoring the sophisticated tactics employed by smugglers attempting to exploit the nation’s busiest seaport.