Meanwhile, the discovery has raised serious concerns about the lengths to which smugglers are going to evade detection with suspicion of the possibility of a broader smuggling or criminal network.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reported that operatives from the Seme Area Command, located at the Nigeria-Benin border, intercepted a shipment of suspected explosive materials, including corrosive mercury, hidden within five cartons of the Quran. Speaking at the Seme Command headquarters on Wednesday, Customs Area Controller Dr. Ben Oramalugo confirmed the seizure and announced the arrest of a suspect linked to the illegal consignment.
Read more…
Source: Sahara Reporters News
Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletter
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Malaysia tightens border security following deadly attack in Sungai Golok, Thailand
March 9, 2025
The police have confirmed that no Malaysian was involved in the shooting and explosion that occurred in Sungai Golok, Thailand last night. Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said security controls along the Malaysia-Thailand border will be tightened following the incident. “All police station chiefs and the General Operations Force have been ordered to step ...
- Iraq builds 400km concrete wall along Syria border
January 8, 2025
Iraq has completed the construction of 400 kilometres of a 615-kilometre concrete wall along its border with Syria, the head of the country’s Security Media Cell, Tahsin Al-Khafaji, said yesterday. Speaking to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), Al-Khafaji explained that the Ministries of the Interior and Defence, along with the Joint Operations Command and the Popular ...
- Belarus: Stash with improvised explosive device parts found at Belarusian-Ukrainian border
June 28, 2024
A stash with components for making explosive devices has been found at the border with Ukraine, BelTA learned from the spokesman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Anton Bychkovsky. Anton Bychkovsky said that a Belarusian border patrol found a stash with components for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the course of operating procedures in ...
- Eight suspected terrorists with possible ISIS ties arrested in New York, L.A. and Philadelphia
June 11, 2024
Eight men from Tajikistan with potential ties to ISIS out of central Asia were arrested over the weekend in New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, three people familiar with the matter told NBC News on Tuesday. The suspects had been on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force radar and were arrested by personnel with U.S. Immigration ...
- Belgium: Car loaded with explosives breaks through roadblock at Belgian-Luxembourg border
June 1, 2024
On Friday at around 1am, a BMW broke through a roadblock set up by Belgian customs and police along the N81 between Arlon and Messancy, just a few kilometres from the Luxembourgish border, resulting in a car-chase. The four people in the car fled towards Aubange in Belgium, where they abandoned the vehicle on Avenue de ...
- South Africa: Commercial explosives confiscated at the Beitbridge Border Post
May 31, 2024
Two men are expected to appear before the Musina Magistrate’s Court today on a charge of smuggling and possession of explosives following their arrest in the early hours of Thursday. Police spokesperson Colonel Malesela Ledwaba said the men, aged 32 and 42-years-old, were arrested for attempting to smuggle commercial explosives into the country. Read more… Source: Polokwane Review Sign ...
- U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency wants to use AI to scan for fentanyl at the border
March 14, 2024
In his State of the Union address last week, President Joe Biden urged Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration bill “with the toughest set of border security reforms we’ve ever seen.” The bill would have, among other things, funded “100 more high-tech drug detection machines to significantly increase the ability to screen and stop vehicles from ...
- UNDOC: Understanding Illegal Methamphetamine Manufacture in Afghanistan
September 10, 2023
This analysis examines the modalities of illegal methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan, highlighting risks to the region. Coverage of suspected methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan, particularly in the news media in recent years, has generally focused on the use of the ephedra plant as a major contributing driver. Ephedra grows abundantly in the region and contains ephedrines ...
- Texas: Authorities Discover Backpacks Filled With Ammo, Homemade Explosive At Southern Border
September 7, 2023
U.S. Border Patrol authorities on Wednesday discovered backpacks with ammunition and a homemade explosive along the Rio Grande Valley sector, where authorities have previously admitted Mexican cartels maintain control of the region. According to Chavez, the McAllen Police Department helped detonate the homemade explosive device after border patrol agents patrolling around Fronton, Texas, discovered the bullets ...
- UNODC: Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia – Latest developments and challenges
June 2, 2023
East and Southeast Asia’s drug market has been marked by a decade of growth in the production and trafficking of synthetic drugs, particularly methamphetamine – a trend that continues. The region has also experienced an expansion in the production and trafficking of ketamine, and the number of new synthetic drugs appearing is increasing. The situation ...
- UNODC: Opium poppy cultivation estimates increase in Myanmar in 2022
January 26, 2023
In its newest survey on opium cultivation in Myanmar, released in Bangkok today, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates poppy cultivation to have increased by 33 per cent in comparison to the previous season. The results of the 2022 opium survey for Myanmar, which covers the first season following the military takeover ...
- South Africa: Two suspects apprehended for illegal possession of explosives
November 20, 2022
Two suspects aged 33 and 40 are expected to appear before the Musina Magistrate’s Court on Monday 21 November 2022 after they were arrested for illegal possession of explosives at the Beitbridge border post on Friday 18 November. The suspects were arrested at about 00:50 as they crossed into South Africa from Zimbabwe.This after their truck ...
- UNDOC: Opium cultivation in Afghanistan
October 31, 2022
Since the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021, opium cultivation increased by 32%, or 56,000 hectares, compared to the previous year. This represents the third largest area under cultivation since the beginning of systematic monitoring. The area under opium poppy cultivation in the 2022 cropping season was estimated at 233,000 hectares. Opium ...
- Nigeria: Customs arrests 10 suspects for smuggling IEDs chemicals
September 7, 2022
Operatives of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have arrested 10 suspects in connection with importation of 20 drums of carbide; a chemical substance used in manufacturing of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). Acting Controller of the unit, Hussein Ejibunu, who disclosed this to newsmen in Lagos, yesterday, said the chemicals ...
- UK signs deal to share police biometric database with US border guards
July 4, 2022
The UK has signed up to a US plan for sharing police-held biometric data about citizens with US border officials. According to a member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), the body met “informally” with representatives of the US Department of Homeland Security this week to discuss the plans. They ...
- US To Donate Nuclear Smuggling Detection Equipment To Nigeria Police
March 25, 2022
The United States has revealed plans to donate mobile nuclear detection system vans and equipment valued at over $2 million (N831 million) to the Nigeria Police Force’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Command. This was made known in a statement issued by Temitayo Famutimi, Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Consulate General. Ahead of the event slated for Friday, ...
- Checks at UK airport over fears far-right extremists may travel to Ukraine
February 16, 2022
British authorities are worried that the current threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine may attract far-right extremists from the UK, who could travel to the country seeking weapons training and military experience. Counter-terrorism police were positioned at the departure gates of at least one main British airport this week, where they quizzed travellers flying to ...
- International Operation Disrupts Supply of Firearms to Terrorists: INTERPOL & UNODC Target Firearms Trafficking in West Africa and the Sahel
December 21, 2020
Lyon (France) & Vienna (Austria), 21 December 2020 — A seven-day operation saw law enforcement officers intercept illicit firearms, ammunition and explosives, and disrupt the trafficking networks used to supply terrorists across West Africa and the Sahel. Under Operation KAFO II (30 November – 6 December), coordinated jointly by INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on ...
- Police rule out terrorism in Finnish Lapland car explosion
August 6, 2020
Police in Lapland said that a bomb which detonated beneath a vehicle rented by the Border Guard in the border city of Tornio early Tuesday was not suspected to be linked to terrorism. The explosion took place in the city’s Pudas residential neighbourhood on Aarnintie at 12:50 am on Tuesday. Police also confirmed on Wednesday that no ...
- Al-Shabaab could smuggle bomb ingredients as local resources run out – UN
June 11, 2020
Depletion of locally available ingredients for making explosives could force the militant group Al-Shabaab to smuggle the components into the country, the UN has warned. The chair of the UN Security on Somalia, Marc Pecsteen de Buytswerve, told the Council Wednesday (10th June) Al-Shabaab was capable of smuggling precursors for producing bombs in light of dwindling ...
- EU foreign ministers agree on new mission to strengthen Libya arms embargo
February 17, 2020
The European Union will launch a new naval and air mission in the eastern Mediterranean to stop more weapons reaching the warring factions in Libya, foreign ministers agreed on Monday, after Austria lifted its veto. The decision marked a breakthrough after weeks of fruitless negotiations and warnings by EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell that the bloc risked ...
- Customs officers from Asia-Pacific nations meet in PH to intensify watch against IEDs, harmful chemicals
October 19, 2019
A gathering of customs administrations from various countries in the Asia-Pacific region was recently held in the country in a bid to intensify monitoring on the entry of explosives and hazardous chemicals in the nations’ territories. The Bureau of Customs (BOC) hosted the World Customs Organization Asia – Pacific Security Project Pre-Operational Planning and Coordination Meeting ...
