The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit Zone A, Ikeja, has disclosed that it intercepted 70 contrabands price N8.9bn in July.
In a press release on Wednesday, the Customs Space Controller in control of the command, Kola Oladeji, disclosed this whereas displaying a number of the seized contraband not too long ago in Lagos.
“Throughout the interval below assessment, we made 70 seizures with a complete obligation paid worth of N8.09bn that was intercepted,” he said.
Giving a breakdown of the seizures, Oladeji said that 6,168 items of donkey skins weighing 29.606km had been seized.
“Others embody, 37,630 sachets of tramadol of 250mg, 11,820 items of recent machetes, 4,740 baggage of overseas parboiled rice, 978 kg of hashish sativa, 1,145 cartons of poultry merchandise, 15 items of imported automobiles, 257 bales of used garments, and 11,700 litres of premium motor spirit,” he stated.
He added that N133m was recovered by means of documentary checks and the issuance of demand notices on consignments that had been discovered to have been short-paid.
Oladeji said that the complete quantity had been paid into the federation account accordingly.
“Evaluating the month of July 2023 with July 2024, the income generated elevated by N96bn or 245 per cent,” he stated.
The FOU boss said that the unit’s interceptions rose from 50 seizures in July 2023 to 70 seizures in July 2024 with a duty-paid worth of N7.63bn.
He added that 14 male suspects had been arrested in reference to the seizures throughout the interval below assessment.
Oladeji famous that whereas the Federal Authorities was dedicated to making sure the provision of premium motor spirit, in any other case referred to as petrol, to Nigerians, some smugglers had been bent on taking the merchandise to different nations for his or her egocentric good points.
He stated that the unit had disposed of the 11,700 litres of PMS by means of open auctions because of the volatility of the product after approval.
“The proceeds realised from the auctions had been paid into the federation account accordingly,” he disclosed.
The FOU Zone A boss maintained that the unit had uncovered a brand new technique of distribution of these prohibited medicine.
“The smugglers at the moment are utilizing smaller automobiles for the distribution. Based mostly on credible intelligence, we’ve intercepted 35,630 sachets of tramadol alongside the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.
“Additionally, the hashish sativa was intercepted alongside the identical expressway,” Oladeji said.
He added that the unit could be hanging over the seized hashish sativa to the Nationwide Drug Regulation Enforcement Company for additional motion in keeping with extant rules and within the spirit of inter-agency collaboration.