Kano, NIGERIA – Operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have disrupted an active illegal primate trafficking ring in Kano State, successfully rescuing an infant gorilla and arresting a suspected transnational wildlife smuggler.
The successful intelligence-led sting operation was carried out on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, in the Kofar Mata area of Kano. Okay News reports that an official operational brief released on Thursday by the Officer-in-Charge of the NCS Special Wildlife Office, Assistant Comptroller of Customs (AC) Anuhu Mani, confirmed that the tactical raid was jointly executed by the Special Wildlife Office, the Customs Intelligence Unit (CIU), the Customs Police Unit, and officers attached to the Kano/Jigawa Area Command, with technical support from Focused Conservation.
The rescued infant gorilla was immediately transferred to a specialized veterinary facility where it is currently receiving urgent medical attention, nutritional support, and long-term rehabilitation. AC Mani disclosed that the breakthrough followed several weeks of painstaking digital surveillance and undercover intelligence gathering tracking illicit supply chains that specialize in trafficking protected and highly endangered primates across the Kano trade axis. He emphasized that the successful raid highlights the critical role of inter-agency synergies and cross-border cooperation with international conservation organizations in clamping down on complex environmental syndicates.
While confirming that exhaustive investigations are underway to track down fleeing cells connected to the network, the Customs boss noted that the service is temporarily withholding the identity of the arrested suspect to protect the integrity of ongoing tactical leads. Reaffirming the Comptroller General’s unwavering stance against ecological crimes, Mani reiterated that the Nigeria Customs Service maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward the illegal possession and transit of endangered species, vowing to enforce the full weight of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to protect the region’s biodiversity.
