Chiemelie Ezeobi
Over the course of the yuletide, the operatives of the Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT arrested oil bunkerers, rice smugglers as well as drug traffickers, all foreigners and recovered tonnes of stolen PMS, 431 bags of rice, and 261 large sacks of cannabis, respectively.
The Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) BEECROFT, Rear Admiral Bashir Mohammed, who addressed the press, said the recovered 261 bags of cannabis worth over N100 million in the local market was intercepted during the Yuletide.
He said: “On behalf of the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, I welcome you all to this press briefing which is to acquaint you with some of the activities of NNS BEECROFT and indeed the ships of the Western Fleet over the past couple of weeks.
“Regardless of the festive season, the navy did not relent in executing the mandate of the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, which is geared towards curbing illegalities thereby boosting national prosperity.
“To this end, we enjoyed a relatively peaceful yuletide season. However, in the course of our patrols, the navy intercepted and arrested some drug traffickers, smugglers of contraband items and petroleum products within the maritime environment.
“On December 17, 2021, NNS ABA arrested a large fibre boat conveying items suspected to be Cannabis bagged inside 261 large sacks.
“It is worthy to note that the suspected cannabis seized is worth over N100Million in the local market.
“Similarly, on December 21, 2021, NNS OSUN intercepted and arrested a large Cotonou boat laden with 413 bags of foreign parboiled rice smuggled into Nigeria from neighbouring countries.
” Pertinently, five crew were arrested onboard the large boat and investigation revealed that they were all foreigners.
” It is equally worthy of note that the smuggled rice is worth over N13million in the local market and this is to the detriment of Nigeria’s local content drive.
“NNS KANO arrested a large Cotonou boat with six crew laden with 125 x 250 litres of drums with unspecified amount of PMS.
“The suspects, who are all foreigners, are part of a syndicate who come to purchase stolen petroleum products to freight them to neighbouring countries for sale, to the detriment of the Nigerian economy.
“You may equally recall that NNS BEECROFT arrested MV Chayaree Naree and Karteria for trafficking of 32.9 and 13.65kg of cocaine on October 9 and 28, 2021, respectively.
“The cocaine seized on both occasions were worth over N10billion in the local market.
“These series of arrests reinforce the Nigerian Navy’s resolve of zero-tolerance to illegalities within the maritime domain in line with her constitutional mandate.”
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