The Defence Headquarters said troops of Operation Delta Safe and Operation Dakatar da Barawo discovered and destroyed 167 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta in the last three weeks.
Director, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. Bernard Onyeuko, who made the disclosure yesterday, said that the troops also destroyed 17 illegal refineries with five wooden boats, 89 storage tanks, 59 ovens, 12 dugout pits, six pumping machines, five trucks, two outboard engines and two weapons.
He said a total of 778,500 litres of crude oil, 840,300 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and 625 litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) were also recovered.
He added that 18 criminals were also arrested during the period, while all recovered items and apprehended criminals were handed over to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.
Onyeuko said troops, in conjunction with Nigerian Drug Law enforcement Agency (NDLEA), arrested some drug suspects during raid operations in their hideout in Effurum in Urwie Local Government Area of Delta State.
“Items recovered from them include 2.460kg of cannabis, 0.0703kg of cocaine, 0.054kg of meth, 0.067kg of loud, 0.654kg of cannabis seeds, one tablet of molly, one pump action with 15 cartridges, a toyota Hilux and Mercedes Benz car,” he said.
In Operation Dakatar da Barawo, Onyeuko said that the troops destroyed 150 illegal refineries with 59 ovens, 67 metal storage tanks and four wooden Cotonou boats.
He said the operations also led to the recovery of one Yamaha engine, one generator, three pumping machines, 20,000 litres of kerosine, 1.6 million litres of AGO and 2.05 million litres of crude oil.
He said all recovered items have been handed over to the appropriate authorities for further action.