Suspected wildlife smuggling kingpin arrested by customs

The suspect is a shipping agent for an organised crime group that is wanted by the Service for their involvement in the January 2021 seizure and other organized wildlife trafficking offences.

After months of intense search, operatives of the Federal Operations Unit of Customs in the South-West zone have arrested a wildlife smuggling kingpin, Felix Maiva, who has been on the run since 2021.

According to a statement by the spokesperson for the FOU Zone ‘A’, the suspect is a shipping agent for an organized crime group that is wanted by the Nigeria Customs Service for their involvement in the January 2021 seizure and other organised wildlife trafficking offences.

The acting Comptroller of the Unit, Hussein Ejibunu, commended the officers for their tact, intelligence, and consistency in following up on the suspect, he reiterated that smuggling suspects, no matter how far they run, would be caught by the long arms of the law.

Ejibunu also described the breakthrough as a morale booster for officers following up on similar cases and suspects.

Maiva’s arrest is a fallout of an intense investigation and surveillance over the discovery of a 1 by 20 feet container laden with 4,752kg of elephant ivory, 5,239kg of pangolin scales, 5kg of rhinoceros horns, and some lion skeletons bound to be exported to Haiphong, Vietnam, in January 2021 through the Apapa seaport, Lagos.

This followed an intelligence-driven operation by Customs officers and the Wildlife Justice Commission to support the global effort to fight crimes against endangered species.

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