The Nigeria Customs Service’s Federal Operations Unit, Zone A Ikeja, reported that it had detained Mr. Felix Maiva, a suspected top wildlife smuggler.
Theophilus Duniya, the command’s public relations officer, claimed in a statement on Friday that Maiva has been missing since 2021.
Duniya outlined how the arrest resulted from the 20-foot container’s discovery in 2021 as it was traveling to Vietnam through Apapa Port.
Maiva was apprehended as a result of a thorough investigation and surveillance that was conducted after a 20-foot container containing 4,752 kg of elephant ivory, 5,239 kg of pangolin scales, 5 kg of rhinoceros horns, and a few lion carcasses was located.
The illegal wildlife items were scheduled to be shipped to Haiphong, Vietnam, through Lagos, Nigeria’s Apapa Seaport, in January 2021.It is noteworthy that a clearance agent, Mr. Felix Olame, was found guilty in June 2023 by a Federal High Court in Lagos as a result of an earlier wildlife seizure carried out by NCS agents in Apapa.