Drug enforcement officers in Nigeria have taken 20 Filipino crew members into custody after authorities said they uncovered a significant amount of cocaine hidden aboard a cargo ship traveling from Brazil to Lagos.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced that its team intercepted what it described as a high-grade shipment of cocaine on Sunday while inspecting a Panama-registered vessel. The agency said the narcotics had been concealed beneath the ship’s load, noting only that the vessel typically transports coal on routes connecting Brazil and Colombia.
Nigeria has long been identified as a major hub for both the production and movement of illicit drugs destined for Europe and various African nations, and officials say the latest seizure reflects ongoing efforts to disrupt trafficking networks. The detained Filipino nationals are now under government custody as investigators pursue the case.
Earlier this month, NDLEA officials disclosed that they were collaborating with anti-drug counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom as part of a broader probe into a cartel linked to a separate discovery of 1,000 kilos of cocaine inside a container at a Lagos port.
The development comes at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump has intensified American security operations in the Caribbean, aiming to counter drug-trafficking groups operating from several Latin American countries, including Venezuela and Mexico.
