The Nigeria Police Force has recorded a major breakthrough in the fight against transnational organised 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 2020 Toyota C-HR and a 2019 Toyota RAV4 — from separate locations in Lagos and Akwa Ibom States.
Investigations revealed that the vehicles were stolen from Amsterdam and Midden-Nederland, then shipped through the Port of Antwerp, Belgium, before arriving in Apapa, Lagos, in late 2023.
Following the recovery, the Police, through INTERPOL NCB Abuja, initiated civil forfeiture proceedings at the Federal High Court, Abuja. After due legal processes, the court granted a final forfeiture order in favour of the Government of the Netherlands through the vehicles’ insurance company, enabling their lawful repatriation.
In line with the court’s directive, the INTERPOL team formally handed over the recovered vehicles on 20 October 2025 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 effort.
The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, commended the INTERPOL NCB Abuja team for their professionalism and effective collaboration with international partners, particularly INTERPOL NCB The Hague.
He said the successful recovery and repatriation of the stolen vehicles underscored Nigeria’s commitment to global law enforcement cooperation and its determination to disrupt criminal networks engaged in cross-border vehicle theft and smuggling.
The Police reiterated their commitment to intelligence-led policing and to strengthening international collaborations in the ongoing effort to combat all forms of transnational organised crime.
