Grande-Nigeria

The 'Grande Nigeria' was once again under scrutiny following the discovery of 381 kg of cocaine in the port of Antwerp on Nov 7 by Belgian customs, hidden inside the container ACLU-278926-3, which was loaded with rice and had departed from the port of Montevideo. The customs informed the Prosecutor's Office that the container underwent a non-intrusive risk-based inspection and no suspicious markings or irregularities in the container's structure were identified, when it passed through the scanner on Sep 30. The cargo's morphology corresponded to the declared contents, the transit time was within established parameters, and the invoice had no discrepancies. However, from the scanning of the container until the ship's departure, four days passed during which only the vehicles—new and used—were inspected on oct 3. These vehicles then departed from the 'Grande Nigeria' on Oct 4. An analysis of the history is key to understanding the modus operandi used for drug trafficking on the vessel. The vessel, sailing between South America and Northern Europe, has been the subject of several judicial investigations due to the discovery of large cocaine shipments on board in recent years. The legal export products—chosen to conceal the drugs—are less controlled than others due to their preservation and hygiene characteristics. In the port of calls only a negligible percentage of total container traffic is scanned, which is a highly advantageous factor for drug trafficking organizations. The ship typically operates a route that starts in Montevideo and ends in Antwerp with stops at six ports: Zárate, Santos, Paranaguá, Rio de Janeiro, Tenerife and Hamburg, The first three are the most suspected by anti-drug agencies, based on several previous incidents linking the 'Grande Nigeria' to cocaine trafficking. But most of those present didn't know that the following day (October 4th), the ship Grande Nigeria would depart from Montevideo with a cargo of 381 kg of cocaine. It remains to be seen whether the cocaine was loaded in the port itself, where it had been operating for eight days with the Lobraus company, or at sea, as hypothesized by the First Shift Narcotics Prosecutor, Angelita Romano (substituting for Mónica Ferrero). The drop-on/drop-off technique, using speedboats to transport the drugs to anchorages, has been the most frequently detected method in the country in recent years, linked to Balkan drug traffickers, Sebastián Marset, the Albín family from Cerro Norte, and the Brazilian PCC. According to a statement from the National Customs Directorate, the method used to contaminate the legal cargo was the "rip-on/rip-off" method, for which criminal organizations recruit ship crews and port workers, such as crane operators, stevedores, and employees with access to restricted areas. The 'Grande Nigeria' left Antwerp again on Nov 8, en route to Hamburg, where it arrived on Nov 10.

A container with 500 kilos of cocaine was seized in the port of Antwerp, which had been scanned in the port of Montevideo. However, the 'Grande Nigeria', that transported it and stayed in port from Feb 16-19, 2025, had called at several other ports before arriving at Antwerp, where the drug was finally found. According to the Attorney General's Office the container could have been filled with the drugs in other ports, since it was proven that the seals were violated. The scanned images at the port of Montevideo confirmed that the illicit substance was not in the container at the time of its departure. In addition, the seal with which it left Montevideo was not the same one with which it arrived in Anwerp, although it did remain intact when passing through Zárate, according to Argentine Customs. Three other seals were found inside the container in a plastic bag, one of which had been reported missing by the MSC shipping company in 2023. The ship already had a history of being used to transport illicit substances, so it was not ruled out that the crew was involved.

In the morning of Feb 11, 2022, the National Customs Directorate and the Navy found more than 200 kilos of drugs inside two vehicles aboard the "Grande Nigeria", which had arrived at the port of Montevideo from Paranagua. The ship was transporting containers and vehicles and upon arrival at the port of Montevideo it was inspected, an operation in which the drug shipment was found. The Montevideo Narcotics Attorney, Mónica Ferrero, the Minister of National Defense, Javier García, and the National Naval Prefect, Rear Admiral José Luis Elizondo, were present at the scene.

120 kilograms of cocaine packed in four bags were aboard the ventilation system of the 'Grande Nigeria' on Jan 28, 2020. The drugs were hidden in the ventilation system compartments of the vessel, A team from the Mixed Container and Vessel Control Unit (Umcc) of the Customs Subdivision of the Dakar Autonomous Port, assisted by personnel of the Scientific Police and the Central Office for the Suppression of Illicit Traffic narcotics (Ocrtis), investigated and searched the ship. The packaging, the brands and identifiers on the newly seized wafers were different from those on the wafers that were the subject of different seizures in 2019. The crew members were being questioned and the investigation followed its course in connection with the Prosecutor's office. Custom officers were tipped off on drugs contraband by an informant. The ship had arrived at Dakar of Jan 24, coming from Brazil. It already had been involved in two cases of drug trafficking, the latest having been also in Dakar in June 2019, another one was in Santos in 2018.