A weapons stash of rocket launchers, grenades and mortars discovered at Apapa Port in Lagos, Nigeria, last Tuesday originated in the southern Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, French-based shipping company CMA CGM has said.

As reported by IFW last week, the CMA CGM Everest delivered a shipment of 13 containers to Lagos in July and they were transferred to a customs-bonded depot, "where they have remained with all seals untouched and unbroken", said CMA CGM on Saturday.

The carrier said labels on the crates contained in the containers indicated they held "packages of glass wool and pallets of stone".

"The shipment in question was booked as a 'shipper's owned container' and supplied loaded and sealed by the shipper, an Iranian trader who does not appear on any 'forbidden persons' listing," said CMA CGM.

Security officials became suspicious of the containers as the shipment did not have proper documentation. It is reported that after Nigerian secret service officers discoverd the cache of weapons, at least two people were arrested.

The Iranian embassy in Nigeria indicated it may issue a statement on the weapons stash in the coming days.

CMA CGM said that last week, the Iranian shipper requested the containers be picked up again and re-exported to Gambia.