The Zamfara State Police Command has apprehended a 58-year-old Algerian national accused of transborder arms trafficking, along with several other suspects involved in various crimes.
The Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Dalijan, disclosed the arrests during a press briefing in Gusau on Tuesday, revealing the recovery of 16 AK-47 rifles in the course of various raids conducted over the past three weeks.In a significant operation, the police tracked and arrested the Algerian suspect at the Illela border point.
According to Dalijan, the suspect confessed to engaging in arms trafficking for the past eight years, supplying weapons and ammunition to bandits across the northwestern states.“At the point of arrest, four AK-47 rifles were recovered from him,” the commissioner stated.The police also apprehended a suspected arms manufacturer based in Jos, Plateau State, from whom a double-barrel gun and a locally made pistol were recovered.“The command, acting on intelligence, traced and arrested an arms manufacturer in Jos and tracked a regional arms trafficker from Algeria at the Illela border point,” Dalijan explained.In addition to the arms-related arrests, the police detained several suspects accused of supplying motorcycles to bandits, a critical tool often used in their operations.
Authorities seized live ammunition, N2.5 million in cash, and other items during the operations.The crackdown extended beyond arms trafficking to illegal mining activities. Dalijan reported the detention of some illegal gold miners and the recovery of multiple mining excavators. He emphasized the continued enforcement of the Federal and State governments’ ban on illegal mining.“The Federal and State government ban on illegal mining is still in force,” the police commissioner warned.
