THE Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Murtala Muhammed International
Airport Command, has arrested two Chinese nationals and a Malian for
attempting to smuggle out of the country more than 21 kilograms of
processed ivory and elephant tusks.
The alleged smugglers had concealed the illegal items as hand
bangles, hair attachment, building materials, beads and decorative
samples, it was gathered. They were smuggling the items through the
cargo wing of the Lagos International Airport.
According to Customs, the items were packaged as courier in 176
separate packages to be flown to Liberia, South Africa and China, before
they were discovered and intercepted during a joint examination by
Customs officers at the cargo sheds of the Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
All items and the suspects, according to the Public Relations Officer
of the Airport Command of Nigeria Customs Service, Mrs. Thelma
Williams, will be handed over to National Environmental Standards and
Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) for further actions.
According to her, but for the diligence of officers and men of the
Nigeria Customs Service, at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Command, the
prohibited items would have been smuggled out of the country against the
worldwide practice of protecting endangered wildlife species from
extinction.
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