Nigeria Customs Busts International Car Theft Ring: 7 Stolen Luxury Vehicles Seized, Handed Back to Canada

Seven high-end vehicles—including Lamborghinis, a Rolls-Royce, and a Range Rover—stolen from Canada have been recovered at Lagos’ Tin Can Island Port and returned to Canadian authorities, marking a rare win in the fight against transnational auto theft.

The recovered fleet reads like a luxury dealership inventory: a 2019 Lexus RX350, 2019 Mercedes-Benz G550, 2023 Land Rover Range Rover, 2019 Lamborghini Huracán, 2021 Rolls-Royce Dawn Convertible, 2018 Lamborghini Aventador, and a 2026 Toyota Tundra. One Toyota Tacoma was so cleverly concealed inside a container of other vehicles it nearly slipped through.

The bust stemmed from intelligence-sharing between the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. When Canadian authorities traced stolen vehicles believed to be heading to Nigeria, NCS Comptroller Frank Onyeka placed the consignment under “enforcement watch.”

“What looked like a routine cargo movement quickly became an international criminal investigation,” Onyeka said. Customs refused to release the vehicles to intermediaries, insisting on direct handover to Canada’s Deputy High Commissioner Nasser Salihou to preserve procedural integrity.

The operation signals deepening Nigeria-Canada cooperation in cargo profiling, maritime enforcement, and dismantling organized crime syndicates exploiting global shipping lanes. For a port long notorious as a smuggling gateway, this seizure sends a message: intelligence partnerships are closing the net.