Customs seizes N1bn worth of contraband, arrests suspected smugglers
THE Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has said that it intercepted smuggled items valued at over N1 billion within the last four weeks.
Speaking to Newsmen in Lagos, Comptroller of the FOU, Controller Kola Oladeji, said that these seizures have a cumulative Duty Paid Value, DPV, of N1.7 billion adding that the operatives of the Unit has intensified surveillance of borders within the south-western states of Nigeria.
Oladeji also said that the onslaught against the activities of economic saboteurs is one of the areas of the service Key Performance Indicators, KPI, which according to him includes revenue generation, suppression of smuggling and facilitation of legitimate trade have continued to record significant successes through our on-going operations code named ‘Swift Sting Operations’.
He disclosed that the Unit recorded a total of 82 interceptions within the last one month as the seized item include 3,832 bag of 50kg of Foreign Parboiled Rice, equivalent to 7 trailer loads, 27 Units of used vehicles also known as ‘Tokunbo’ vehicles, 494 Jerry Cans of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, equivalent to 14,820 litres, 27 bales of used clothing and 95 bags Charcoal.
He added that, “In line with the dictates of the Nigeria Customs Service of promoting inter-agency cooperation and synergy, the seized 3,643kg of cannabis sativa will be handed over to the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency for further investigation and subsequent prosecution.”
He further disclosed that the unit recovered a total sum of N72. 44 million through issuance of Demand Notices (DN) as a result of irregular declaration of consignments. The unit will continue to enforce the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 as it relates to import and export goods to prevent revenue losses.
