The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), with support from the Wildlife Justice Commission, successfully conducted two major operations on 8 August 2024, resulting in the combined seizure of over 9.4 tonnes of pangolin scales and arrests of four suspects. These operations mark a significant achievement in the ongoing efforts to dismantle wildlife trafficking networks in Nigeria.
In an operation in Ogun, NCS officers acted on intelligence provided by the Wildlife Justice Commission and raided a warehouse, uncovering 7.2 tonnes of pangolin scales in the largest seizure ever achieved in a Wildlife Justice Commission-supported operation. Two suspects believed to be caretakers of the stockpile were arrested during the raid. This is the largest pangolin scale seizure globally since January 2020 and the third largest in Nigeria’s history.
In a separate operation in Kaduna, NCS raided another warehouse, also guided by Wildlife Justice Commission intelligence, leading to the seizure of 2.294 tonnes of pangolin scales and the arrest of two suspects alleged to be the owner and the supplier of the stockpile.
The combined value of the goods in these two seizures is estimated to be USD 175,000 at the wholesale trade level in Nigeria, and over USD 1.7 million at the Asian end of the supply chain.
“The Wildlife Justice Commission congratulates NCS on these landmark seizures, which importantly occurred before the goods could be shipped out of Nigeria. This swift and proactive result represents a significant financial loss to the two criminal networks behind these stockpiles and will cause immediate disruption to the wildlife trafficking landscape in Nigeria. This result highlights the critical importance of intelligence sharing and international cooperation in our collective fight against wildlife crime,” said Olivia Swaak-Goldman, Executive Director of the Wildlife Justice Commission.
Since the commencement of the NCS-Wildlife Justice Commission partnership in July 2021, the collaboration has led to the arrest of 34 suspects and the seizure of 19.4 tonnes of pangolin scales and over one tonne of ivory. To date, 12 convictions have been secured, including that of a high-ranking Vietnamese wildlife trafficker, his two key associates, and two principal shipping facilitators for Lagos-based organised crime networks.
The impact of this partnership has been profound, significantly disrupting Lagos-based criminal networks involved in trafficking ivory and pangolin scales in Nigeria, leading to the displacement of trafficking to other parts of Nigeria and to other countries, and establishing wildlife trafficking as an increasingly high-risk criminal activity within Nigeria.
The two seizures in Ogun and Kaduna underscore the scale of the ongoing illegal trade in pangolins and their parts. Pangolins are highly prized for their meat and unique scales, particularly in China and Vietnam, where the scales are used in traditional medicine. All eight pangolin species are protected under international law, and three species are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Overexploitation for illegal trade represents the greatest threat to all pangolin species.