Police nab Algerian, others for arms trafficking in Zamfara

The Zamfara State Police Command has arrested a 58-year-old Algerian national suspected of transborder arms trafficking.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mohammed Dalijan, disclosed this development during a briefing in Gusau on Tuesday. He revealed that the suspect was apprehended as part of ongoing operations to combat arms smuggling and illegal weapon distribution in the region.

Dalijan further stated that within the last three weeks, the command recovered 16 AK-47 rifles during various raids. Additionally, police seized a double-barrel gun and a locally made pistol from a suspected arms manufacturer operating in Jos, Plateau State.

The commissioner emphasized the command’s commitment to curbing the proliferation of illegal arms and urged residents to cooperate with security agencies by providing timely information.

”The command, acting on intelligence, traced and arrested an arms manufacturer in Jos and tracked and arrested a regional arms trafficker from Algeria at the Illela border point.

”The suspected Algerian told the police he had been committing this crime for eight years.

”The suspect supplies arms and ammunition to bandits in all parts of the northwestern states.

“At the point of the arrest, four AK47s were recovered from him,” he said.

Dalijan said the police also detained some suspects, including bandits and motorcycle suppliers.

“The police recovered live ammunition and N2.5 million cash, among others, from the suspects,” he said.

He said the police also detained some illegal gold miners and recovered several mining excavators.

The commissioner warned that the federal and state government ban on illegal mining was still in force. (NAN)