(Reuters) - Nigerian
authorities seized a ship and arrested its 15 Russian crew members on suspicion
of arms smuggling, after they found several guns and about 8,500 rounds of
ammunition on the boat, the Navy said on Tuesday.
The vessel was
intercepted over the weekend in Lagos, one of Africa's busiest ports, Navy
spokesman Commodore Aliyu Kabiru said by telephone. It belonged to the Moran
Security Group, based in Moscow, and was flying a Dutch flag, he added.
There was no
immediate comment from Moran.
"The vessel was
carrying 8,598 ammunitions and different rifles. Investigations are still
ongoing," he said. He gave no further details.
A Navy source, who
could not be named, said 22 Benelli MR1 rifles and several other automatic
weapons were found.
Arms smuggling is a
flourishing enterprise in Nigeria, which is battling an Islamist insurgency in
the north, organised armed robbery and kidnapping gangs in the south and oil
thieves and pirates in the southeast.
The country is also
sometimes used as a conduit for shipping arms into other parts of West Africa
or the world.
In 2010, a
consignment of rocket launchers, grenades and other explosive from Iran was
seized at Lagos, causing a diplomatic incident between the two countries, and
later between Iran and Senegal, which accused Iranian security forces of using
the route to supply weapons to its Casamance rebels.
(Reporting by Tife
Owolabi; Writing by Tim Cocks)
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