The Nigerian Navy has recovered about 80,000 litres of crude oil from two separate operations targeting crude oil theft in Delta State.

The recoveries were disclosed in an operational report on Operation DELTA SENTINEL made available to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday by the Director of Naval Information, Capt. Abiodun Folorunsho.

According to Folorunsho, personnel of NNS DELTA carried out the first operation on September 21 in the Oteghele general area, where they discovered a large dugout reservoir containing about 30,000 litres of crude oil.

He said another operation conducted on September 23 in the Obodo Amadino general area led to the recovery of an additional 50,000 litres of crude oil from a large dugout reservoir.

Folorunsho said the recovered crude oil was handled in line with established procedures.

In a related operation, personnel of NNS DELTA, in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), also conducted an operation on September 22 against suspected illicit drug activities in the Warri general area.

“The operation resulted in the arrest of three suspects and the seizure of approximately 15 Kilo Grammes of suspected Cannabis sativa, 0.5 gramme of cocaine and 0.5 gramme of methamphetamine (crystal meth).

“The suspects and recovered substances were handed over to the NDLEA for further investigation and necessary action”, he said.

Folorunsho said the operations demonstrated the Navy’s capacity to tackle different forms of maritime and coastal insecurity while working with other security agencies to disrupt criminal activities within its area of responsibility.