The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Murtala Muhammed International Airport Command, has arrested two Chinese nationals and a Malian for attempting to smuggle out of the country over 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 them 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 Monrovia, South Africa and China, before they were discovered and intercepted during a joint examination by customs officers at the cargo sheds of the Muritala 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, if not for the diligence of officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service, Murtala Mohammed 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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