NEW DELHI, June 13: Eleven Indian sailors have been convicted and their merchant vessel fined $5.3 million by a court in Nigeria for cocaine trafficking.
They were arrested around six months ago by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for allegedly importing 31.5 kilogrammes of cocaine from the Marshall Islands into Nigeria through the Apapa seaport in Lagos, the agency said in a statement on Thursday.
The master of the vessel and 10 other crew members were convicted under the NDLEA Act by Justice Joseph Chukwujekwu Aneke, it said. The vessel was ordered to pay restitution of $5.3 million to the Nigerian government. The three principal officers were directed to pay $100,000 each, while the remaining crew members were ordered to pay $50,000 each. Each defendant was also fined 100,000 Naira.
NDLEA Chairman Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd) said the conviction sent a “resounding message” to drug trafficking networks that “Nigeria is no longer a safe corridor for cocaine or any other illicit substance,” the NDLEA statement read.
(Manas Dasgupta)
