The Murtala Muhammed Airport Command of the Nigeria Customs Service said it intercepted male donkey genitals and dried shark fins worth N1.23 billion en route China and Hong Kong.
The Customs Area Controller in charge of the command, Muhammed Yusuf, disclosed this while showing some of the seized contraband to journalists in Lagos.
Yusuf explained that the male donkey genitals were harvested from Abakaliki in Ebonyi State by a Chinese, who had been arrested.
He said donkeys are endangered species, and therefore illegal for anyone to export them.
“The Chinese man has been arrested and investigation is ongoing,” the official said.
On the shark fins, Yusuf said investigations were ongoing to know the source of the contraband as Nigeria has few sharks in its waters.
“The culprits have been apprehended and investigation is ongoing to know where these things come from. I know that in Nigerian waters we don’t have enough sharks that are up to this.
“This is supposed to be exported but nabbed at the point of documentation. A total of 1,700 pieces of sharks going to Hong Kong. This is the first time we are seizing this in the command.”
He also said that from January to July 2023, the command generated N47.24 billion, approximately about 83.24 per cent of the command’s revenue target for the year.
