The Nigeria customs service has intercepted 7,000 donkey penises at Lagos MM airport that were headed to Hong Kong, according to an official.
The animal parts were packed in 16 sacks found in the animal export section, said Sambo Dangaladima, the customs controller at Murtala Muhammed airport.
He said that a pungent smell was coming from the bags, arousing suspicion among the customs officers who then opened the packages to find the 7,000 donkey penises.
Dangaladima said that a suspect linked to the shipment, which is worth an estimated 200 million Naira (£416,000), managed to escape.
The illicit trade of donkey parts – including the animal’s penises and skin – from Nigeria to China is common.
The animal parts are used in China to make a traditional medicine called ejiao.
In June, the Nigerian Customs Service said that they had intercepted three 100kg bags filled with donkey genitalia and 3,712 pieces of donkey skin at an airport.
Four months earlier in March, four suspects were arrested while they were trying to smuggle 2,754 donkey penises and 3,712 pieces of skin.
Nigeria lost over £6 billion to the illicit trade of smuggling donkey parts to China from 2012 to 2018, officials said.
It is illegal in Nigeria to kill donkeys for their body parts and smuggle them to foreign countries – but illicit smuggling continues.
