Nigerian authorities arrested on Wednesday three people involved in trafficking a worth of USD54 million in pangolin scales and elephant tusks in Lagos.
The items seized included 17,137 kg of pangolin scales, 44 kg of elephant tusks, and 60 kg in pangolin claws, Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali, comptroller-general of customs, said in a statement reported by Reuters.
Authorities had arrested three foreign nationals and are pursuing a fourth, described as the kingpin of the operation.
Nigeria is part of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), prohibiting the use of the country as a transit hub of wildlife trade.
The illegal killing of wildlife is pervasive in the populations of South Africa, where the aim is to seize parts of these animals such as skin, scales, claws, and tusks for illicit traffic.
Several reports indicated a high prevalence of trafficking production, distribution, and consumption for several economic reasons including trade and export of these wildlife parts to other countries, especially to Asia.
Criminal groups operating in wildlife traffic use the same modalities and techniques to smuggle illicit commodities, according to the 2020 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime wildlife.
Profits generated from the trafficking of wild fauna are used to finance other criminal activities, and at times deployed in conflict regional instability
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