Nearly $ 13 million in African elephant ivory seized (2019 video) 1:08
(Reuters) -
Officials at a control center for illegal wildlife trafficking in Nigeria seized a record number of pangolin scales and claws and elephant tusks as the government tries to fight the trade, the customs chief said Wednesday. .
The seizure, worth 22 billion naira (US $ 54 million), included 17,137 kg of pangolin scales, 44 kg of elephant tusks and 60 kg of pangolin claws, Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali said in a statement, Comptroller General of Customs.
Pangolins are "the most trafficked mammal in the world."
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Almost $ 13 million in African elephant ivory seized 1:08
Ali said authorities had arrested three foreigners and were pursuing a fourth, whom he described as the ringleader of the operation.
"The arrested suspects will have their court date soon as the NCS will leave no stone unturned to bring them to justice," Ali said.
Nigeria has become a hub for gangs shipping African pangolins to Asia, according to law enforcement officials and wildlife experts.
They blame insecure borders, lax law enforcement, corruption and access to large ports.
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Ali said Customs is working with British, US and German officials, as well as international organizations, to intensify anti-smuggling operations.
That "broad collaboration" led to the seizure of Lekki, near Nigeria's main ports in Lagos.
The pangolin, a timid and critically endangered animal, has become one of the most trafficked mammals on the planet due to the demand for its scales in traditional Chinese medicine.
Seizures of pangolin scales, mainly from Africa, increased tenfold between 2014 and 2018, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC).
In that time, 185 tons of scales were seized, which would have killed approximately 370,000 animals, UNODC said.
Pangolin