Customs seizes 2 tons of pangolin scales, cracks down on trafficking network
In a significant operation to curb wildlife trafficking, Nigerian authorities have seized more than 2 metric tons of pangolin scales in Adamawa State.
The seizure, carried out on December 5, 2024, was made possible through intelligence provided by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), an international NGO dedicated to combating organised wildlife crime.
Acting on intelligence provided by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), an international NGO fighting organised wildlife crime, the Kano-Jigawa command of the Nigeria Customs Services (NCS) also arrested one person, suspected to be a broker.
The seizures and the arrest were made in two warehouses in Mubi, a town in Adamawa state, where they were being stockpiled for export. The WJC estimates the 2,179 kilograms of scales likely originated from around 1,100 pangolins poached from across the continent.
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“This seizure is estimated to be worth tens of thousands of dollars on the black market in Nigeria, making this shipment highly valuable to traffickers,” Olivia Swaak-Goldman, executive director of the WJC, told Mongabay in an email. The scales were likely intended for Asian markets and linked to Lagos-based trafficking networks, she added.
Since 2021, the WJC has partnered with the NCS to combat wildlife trafficking and dismantle criminal networks in Nigeria, which has recently become a transit hub for pangolin trafficking.
“This partnership has primarily focused on pangolin scales and ivory, as they are the primary wildlife products being trafficked through Nigeria by organised criminal networks,” Swaak-Goldman said, adding they’re also looking at trafficking of shark fins and other marine species.
The December seizure is the third WJC-NCS operation in 2024 involving pangolin scales, and the fourth in Nigeria this year.
So far, their collaboration has resulted in 16 operations, 35 arrests, 12 convictions, and the seizure of around 21.5 metric tons of pangolin scales, more than half of it in 2024, and 1.065 metric tons of ivory. It’s also responsible for nearly 95% of all pangolin scale seizures in Nigeria.
“It’s amazing news,” Mark Ofua from WildAfrica, a Nigeria and South Africa-based organisation that has worked with NCS in the past but wasn’t involved in this operation, told Mongabay. “It tells us that the government is up and about its work and its function is no longer lip service.”
A 2022 investigation by Nigeria’s Premium Times and Mongabay found Nigerian law enforcement had mostly failed to bring wildlife traffickers to justice, as many accused settled their cases out of court or bribed local officials. Despite numerous wildlife trafficking busts since 2010, no one had faced a jail term.
But Ofua said this is changing, citing an instance where three Vietnamese organised criminals involved in ivory and pangolin scales trafficking ivory were convicted in 2023 following their 2022 arrest in an NCS-WCJ operation. “I am enthusiastic that such is happening, and it gives hope that we’ll be able to solve the Nigerian (wildlife trafficking) problem and better protect our wildlife.”
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