The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced a smack down on Smugglers, intercepting items with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of ₦5.5 billion from its anti-smuggling operations across the southwestern states in two months.
Addressing the press on on the seizure in Lagos, Tuesday, Customs Area Controller,CAC of the command, Comptroller Gambo Aliyun disclosed that the unit successfully foiled 473 smuggling attempts across Lagos, Ogun, Oyo and Ondo states through a combination of advanced surveillance systems, intelligence sharing frameworks, and interagency collaboration.
Comptroller Aliyu explained that a huge haul of contraband goods, including 8,794 bags of 50kg foreign rice (about 15 trailer loads), 22 used vehicles and 1,863 used refrigerator compressors considered hazardous to the environment, were intercepted in the operations.
Others seized items included 328 bales of used clothing, 1,188 jerrycans of 25-litre vegetable oil, 31,705 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, 485 used tyres and 69 cartons of spaghetti.
He added that the unit also confiscated 24 bags of 50kg foreign sugar and five cartons of St. Louis sugar, as well as 531 cartons of foreign poultry products and four cylinders of mercury weighing 80 kilograms each.
While announcing the launch of “Operation Hawk,” which he said was designed to dismantle drug trafficking networks and cut off illicit supply chains, Comptroller Aliyu stated that the command has intensified enforcement efforts to safeguard Nigeria’s borders, protect the economy and combat illicit trade.
He noted that under the “Operation Hawk,” initiative, officers impounded 3,340 parcels of synthetic cannabis indica weighing a total of 1,540 kilograms, adding that intelligence indicates that traffickers were adopting increasingly sophisticated methods.
Speaking further on the anti-smuggling operations of hi unit, Compt. Aliyu said officers acting on credible intelligence intercepted a green Toyota Highlander at Elijah Bus Stop, along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor, driven by a 71-year-old suspect, Oni Iridia Martins, and on searching the vehicle, discovered six parcels of cocaine comprising two parcels of powdered cocaine weighing 2.3 kilograms and four parcels of crack cocaine weighing 4.05 kilograms, with an estimated street value of ₦2.35 billion.