The Nigeria Police Force has announced the successful recovery of two high-end vehicles stolen from the Netherlands and smuggled into Nigeria.
The operation, coordinated by the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Abuja and its counterpart in The Hague, led to the retrieval of a Toyota C-HR (2020 model) and a Toyota RAV4 (2019 model) from separate locations in Lagos and Akwa Ibom States.
Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in an official statement, describing the operation as a major breakthrough in combating transnational organised crime.
According to the statement, “Investigations revealed that the vehicles were stolen from Amsterdam and Midden-Nederland and subsequently shipped to Nigeria through the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, arriving at Apapa, Lagos, in late 2023.”
Following the recovery, the Nigeria Police Force, through INTERPOL NCB Abuja, initiated civil forfeiture proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja. Upon the conclusion of legal processes, the court issued a final forfeiture order in favour of the Government of the Netherlands, represented by the vehicles’ insurance company, thereby paving the way for their lawful repatriation.
The statement further noted that the Nigeria Police INTERPOL unit has formally handed over the vehicles to representatives of the insurance company and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria. This marked the successful conclusion of the international recovery and restitution effort.
