AISHA ABUBAKAR
The Nigeria Police Force has achieved a major breakthrough in the fight against transnational organized crime with the recovery of two high-end vehicles stolen from the Netherlands and illegally shipped into Nigeria.
Operatives of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja, in a coordinated operation with INTERPOL NCB The Hague, traced and recovered the vehicles, a Toyota C-HR (2020 model) and a Toyota RAV4 (2019 model), from separate locations in Lagos and Akwa Ibom States.
Investigations revealed that the vehicles were stolen from Amsterdam and Midden-Nederland and subsequently shipped to Nigeria through the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, arriving Apapa, Lagos, in late 2023.
Following the recovery, the Nigeria Police Force, through INTERPOL NCB Abuja, instituted civil forfeiture proceedings at the Federal High Court, Abuja. Upon the conclusion of due legal processes, the Court granted a final forfeiture order in favour of the Government of the Netherlands through the vehicles’ insurance company, thereby facilitating their lawful repatriation.
In furtherance of this process, the Nigeria Police Force INTERPOL team Monday, 20th October, 2025, formally handed over the recovered vehicles to representatives of the insurance company and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria, marking the successful conclusion of the cross-border recovery and restitution effort.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM, commended the operatives of INTERPOL NCB Abuja for their professionalism and the effective synergy with international partners, particularly INTERPOL NCB The Hague.
IGP Egbetokun noted that the successful recovery and repatriation of the vehicles reflect the Force’s firm commitment to global law enforcement cooperation and to ensuring that criminal networks involved in cross-border vehicle theft and smuggling are denied the proceeds of their crimes.
He said that the Nigeria Police Force remains dedicated to intensifying intelligence-led policing and strengthening international collaborations aimed at tackling all forms of transnational organized crime.
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