The Executive Board of the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) has called for the immediate release of Ali Albokhari, a chief officer who has spent three years in prison in Türkiye after cocaine was found on the bulk carrier Phoenician M in October 2023. In a statement on 16 October 2026, the board asked the Turkish authorities for a full, independent and impartial review of his case. Without credible evidence that he was personally involved in drug trafficking, it said, he should be released.
According to the ITF, eight other crew members were acquitted for lack of evidence, but Albokhari and the master were convicted on the basis of "command responsibility", although no evidence directly linked him to the drugs. "Holding a position of responsibility aboard a ship cannot, by itself, make a seafarer criminally responsible for the actions of organised criminals," the board said.
What happened
In September 2023, Colombian authorities found a reported 137 kg of cocaine in the ship's aft peak tank, near the steering gear compartment, at Barranquilla. This is according to an August 2026 report by the charity Human Rights at Sea (HRAS), as reported by Splash247. Nobody on board was arrested and the ship was cleared to sail for Türkiye. The ITF says the crew had reported that find.
At Ereğli, on Türkiye's Black Sea coast, Turkish authorities first searched the ship in early October 2023 without finding drugs. During the coal discharge, a reported 101.5 kg of cocaine was allegedly recovered from areas linked to cargo hold No. 2 and to shoreside cargo handling. Ten of the 20 crew were arrested.
On 16 September 2024, the Karadeniz Ereğli High Criminal Court sentenced Albokhari, a Syrian-born Finnish citizen, and the ship's Croatian master to 30 years in prison each. The other eight defendants were acquitted. HRAS says the sentences were later extended to 33 years after fines were not paid, although it has not seen the decision confirming this. Türkiye's Court of Cassation upheld the convictions by a 3-2 majority.
The master was returned to Croatia in August 2025 after diplomatic intervention. That leaves Albokhari as the only crew member still in prison.
Questions over the evidence
HRAS says it has not seen the forensic report, photographs or chain-of-custody records needed to verify where the drugs in Türkiye were found. It also says the Colombian inspection records were never put before the Turkish court, and that there was no fingerprint, communications, surveillance or witness evidence showing Albokhari took part in trafficking. The ITF says dissenting judges in Türkiye's highest appeal court reportedly identified significant shortcomings in the investigation.
Seatrade Maritime News reported on 2 October 2026 that Türkiye's Chief Public Prosecutor filed an extraordinary objection under Article 308 of the Criminal Procedure Code on 2 July 2026, noting serious deficiencies in the police investigation. There is no fixed deadline for a decision. The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) told Seatrade it is concerned about his continued detention and is discussing with the ITF and others what further representations can be made, without prejudicing the legal process.
The ITF calls the criminalisation of seafarers "a growing and deeply troubling problem" and praised Albokhari's wife, Elena, who has spent three years campaigning for his release. HRAS points to an earlier Turkish case. In January 2025, Türkiye's Criminal General Assembly overturned 30-year sentences on the captain and chief officer of the bulk carrier Shandong De Rui, after cocaine had been found in an underwater "torpedo" attached to its hull. The court ruled that rank alone was not enough to prove criminal responsibility.
What it means for crews
As this case shows, senior officers can face the courts when drugs are found on their ship. IMO's guidelines on preventing drug smuggling on ships (Resolution FAL.9(34)) suggest that masters and officers:
keep a proper gangway watch at all times in port and stop unauthorised access;
carry out regular inspections that vary in place, time and length, and log them;
check disturbed stowage, closed-off spaces and signs of tampering, such as welded tank tops or loose covers;
supervise shore gangs where possible;
lock cargo spaces and access points that are not in regular use, and control the keys.
The same guidelines say that any lack of integrity by officials, anywhere in the world, should be reported to the national authorities and the flag State. Seafarers who need help can contact an ITF inspector or affiliated union through the ITF's inspector and union contact page.
Cover photo: The bulk carrier Attikos unloading coal at JadeWeserPort, Wilhelmshaven, Germany, May 2017. Illustrative photo, not the ship in the story. Photo: Jacek Rużyczka/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped).
Sources: ITF: Statement from the ITF Executive Board in support of Ali Albokhari (16 Oct 2026), Seatrade Maritime News: Turkish judiciary slow to respond to plight of seafarers (2 Oct 2026), Splash247: Missing evidence clouds Phoenician M cocaine convictions (21 Aug 2026), IMO: Resolution FAL.9(34), Revised guidelines for the prevention and suppression of the smuggling of drugs on ships (PDF).
