…As Customs in China seize 386 kg of dried snakes in south China***
The Niger Police Command has arrested a Soldier, Lance Cpl. Attahiru Jibril, for allegedly stabbing one Ali Mohammed to death, in Lambatta Market, Gurara Local Government Area of the state.
Alh. Adamu Usman, Commissioner of Police in Niger, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Minna on Saturday.
“The suspect attacked and stabbed the victim to death with a knife, following a misunderstanding at the market,” Usman said.
He said that the incident occurred on Friday.
“We succeeded in rescuing the suspect from a mob attack at the market and notified military authorities accordingly,” the commissioner said.
Usman said the suspect claimed he was on special duty in Maiduguri, Borno.
He added that Jibril would be charged to court after investigations were completed.
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In the meantime, Guangzhou Customs officials in southern China’s Guangdong Province, on Friday reported that they have seized a total of 386 kg of smuggled dried snakes.
The captured products contain 256.8 kg of dried mucosal rat snakes and 128.8 kg of Javan spitting cobras.
Customs said they are both protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and can only be imported or exported with legal paperwork.
The customs found the smuggled serpents in about 10 tonnes of imported products declared to be dried geckos and zaocys dhumnades, a kind of black striped snake.
Guangzhou customs has intensified its crackdown on endangered species smuggling starting from 2019 and cleared more than 400 cases that involve ivories, pangolin scales, living crocodiles, hawksbills, and dried seahorses.