The Nigerian Navy has intercepted about 22,870 litres of suspected illegally refined diesel in Rivers State during an intelligence-led operation under Operation DELTA SENTINEL.
Director of Naval Information, Captain Abiodun Folorunsho, said in a statement on Sunday in Abuja that personnel of Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS SOROH, carried out the operation in the Orashi Forest area of Okolomade Community, Abua/Odual Local Government Area, near the Bayelsa border.
Acting on credible intelligence, a patrol team intercepted a wooden boat conveying 36 sacks of suspected Automotive Gas Oil, AGO, along a creek channel.
Aerial surveillance with a drone later identified additional concealed stockpiles hidden under vegetation and inside ponds. A follow-up search uncovered 45 more sacks, bringing the total to 81 sacks estimated at 22,870 litres.
The Navy also denied criminal elements use of the intercepted wooden boat. Folorunsho said the products and boat were handled in line with extant anti-crude oil theft procedures
He reaffirmed the Navy’s commitment to intelligence-driven operations to dismantle crude oil theft networks, restrict criminal activity on waterways, and protect Nigeria’s economic assets in the Niger Delta.