Customs Seize N1.3bn Contraband

• Customs Seize N1.3bn Contraband

The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone A’, has said it has confiscated contraband worth more than N1.3bn between May 16 and June 12.

The Controller of the zone, Mohammed Garuba, disclosed this to journalists in Lagos on Wednesday.

He said the unit also recovered over N59.5m from underpayment, bringing the cumulative revenue generated within the period to N1.4bn.

He listed the seized items to include 15 exotic vehicles, 9,049 bags of foreign parboiled rice (15 trailers), 1,464 cartons of frozen poultry products, 870 jerrycans of vegetable oil, 273 bales of used clothing and 592 pieces of used tyres, among others.

Garuba said four containers were seized for false declaration, adding that while two of the containers were carrying 8,633 pieces of empty cylinders as against plumbing materials declared in their Single Goods Declaration forms, the other two carried 120 bales of new jeans as against punching machine declared in the SGD

According to him, 12 suspects were arrested in connection with the seizures.

Explaining the massive rice seizure within the period under review, Garuba said, “In order to ensure full implementation of the government’s policy banning the importation of rice through land borders and following the headquarters’ directive on same, we re-strategised our operational modalities and beamed our searchlight on the creeks, waterside, and at various locations in the Southwest Zone and hence the reason for the massive rice seizure within the period under review.

“This feat couldn’t have been possible without the logistics support of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.) and the entire management of the NCS as well as the media for its partnership in sensitising and educating the general public on the evil of smuggling to the nation’s economy.”