The Federal Operations Unit, Zone A Ikeja of the Nigeria Customs Service, said it has arrested Mr Felix Maiva, a suspected wildlife smuggling kingpin.
In a statement on Friday, the command’s Public Relations Officer, Theophilus Duniya, said that Maiva has been on the run since 2021.
Duniya explained that the arrest was a fallout of the discovery of a 20-foot container loaded with wildlife en route Vietnam through Apapa Port in 2021.
“Maiva’s arrest was a fallout of intense investigation and surveillance that followed the discovery of a 20-foot container found to contain 4,752kg of elephant ivory, 5,239kg of pangolin scales, 5kg of rhinoceros horns, and some lion skeletons.
“The illegal wildlife products were bound to be exported to Haiphong, Vietnam, in January 2021 through the Apapa Seaport, Lagos, Nigeria.
“It is worthy of note that the earlier wildlife seizure made by operatives of the NCS in Apapa led to the conviction of a clearing agent, Mr Felix Olame, in June 2023 by a Federal High Court in Lagos.”
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