The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has seized smuggled items with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N10.67 billion in the first quarter of this year.
The Controller of the unit, Comptroller Aliyu Mohammed, in an interview yesterday with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, said the items were seized within 90 days.
He said they included 25 assorted vehicles with a DPV of N111.06 million.
“The command intercepted 16,117 bags of 50kg parboiled rice, 447 cartons of frozen poultry products, 594 vehicles, 42,412 kg of seven pallets of raw hide and skin as well as 2,471 cartons of alcoholic wine.
“The intercepted goods also include 710 cartons of Tramadol capsules, 510 cartons of various medications, including Chaka pain, Codeine and Rally Extra.
“Others are 111 bags of used clothing, three sacks of footwear, 210 kegs of 25 litres of vegetable oil and 106 cartons of 5 litres vegetable oil,” he said.
The controller said 16 suspects were arrested in connection with the total of 254 seizures recorded between January and March.
He advised would-be car buyers to verify the authenticity of the import and clearance documents with the appropriate Customs Area Controllers (CACs) at ports, saying buyers should avoid buying smuggled vehicles.
Mohammed, however, hailed the efforts of the Comptroller-General of Customs, retired Col. Hameed Ali and his management team for providing the unit with necessary incentives and logistics.
He urged the public to join the service in the fight against smuggling, considering its economic consequences to the nation and the society at large.
