Agency intercepts contraband goods worth N1.70bn in January

The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), says it intercepted contraband with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.70 billion in January.

“The seized items include: 31 assorted vehicles, 8,400 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 1,652 cartons of frozen poultry products, 835 jerry cans of vegetable oil, 10 sacks of Hemp, 2,208 pieces of used tyres, and 159 bales of used clothing.

“Among the detained vehicles include four Rolls Royce, a Porche Panamera, a Jaguar, a Bentley, two Lexus Jeep, two G wagon, a Toyota Land Cruiser, five Toyota Corolla, seven and Mercedes Benz, among others mostly 2017 models.

“These 31 assorted vehicles alone have a DPV of N1, 429 billion.

“While some of the vehicles were intercepted along Ijebu Ode Expressway, others were evacuated at various raids in Parkview Estate Victoria Island, Banana Island, Alhaji Bankole Crescent Ikeja and Tola Adewunmi St. Maryland,’’ Garba said.

He urged owners of the vehicles to come forward with valid Customs clearance documents, adding that failure to do so would lead to seizure and subsequent forfeiture to the Federal Government in line with the laws of the land.

“For the avoidance of doubt, Customs action is in line with the provisions of Sections 147 of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap 45, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.’’

According to him, the law empowers Customs to search premises, and also Section 158 of CEMA, Cap 45 Laws of Federation of Nigeria empowers NCS to patrol freely.

He said that the command had also intercepted two containers for carrying 537 cartons of Indian Whisky, instead of yeast declared in the Single Goods Declaration (SGD) form.

Garba said that a 40ft container carrying 60 pieces of used freezers and 570 bundles of gas hoses, instead of condenser for steam polysomic was impounded.

He said that two containers were seized based on false declaration.

Garba said that the command had also recovered N91.3 million between January 1, and Jan. 31.

“In the spirit of inter-agency collaboration, the comptroller said that the seized hemp would be handed over to the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Tuesday for further investigation,’’ he said.

He, however, said that 10 suspects had been arrested in connection with the 163 seizures

Garba warned all smugglers to desist from any act of illegal trade, and urged them to invest their money in a legitimate business that would yield dividend on their investments.

He said that there was no amount of resistance from the smugglers and their mob accomplices that would deter Customs officers from performing their statutory responsibilities in all aspects.

The controller commended the media for their continued support in informing, sensitising and educating the general public on the effects of smuggling to the nation’s economy.