Operatives of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have, in the last one month, seized about 60 smuggled items worth N845.1 million in the southwest region of the country.
Area Controller of the unit, Hussein Ejibunu, displayed the smuggled items to journalists at the headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos.
They include: 3,653 of 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice (equivalent to 6.5 trailer loads); 23,025 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS); 241 bales of used clothes, and 1,490 kg of Indian Hemp.
Others are 1,220 cartons of foreign tomato paste; 983 pieces of used tyres; 104 units of Haojue motorcycles; 556 cartons of slippers and 11 units of used vehicles.
He said the items were intercepted, following renewed vigour to fight smuggling with enhanced intelligence gathering and information sharing mechanism.
Ejibunu said the status of the goods contravened different sections of the Customs Act (2023), and that some had expired at the time of importation. He said others flouted statutory import guidelines, noting that 10 suspects were arrested in connection with some of the goods.
On revenue recovery, Ejibunu said about N83 million was generated through documentary checks and issuance of demand notices on consignments that were found to have been short-paid.
Smuggling has serious repercussions on the economy, the environment, health and security, he said, stressing that to curb the trend, there is a need for strong partnership with other critical stakeholders through sharing of information and intelligence.
“The public is encouraged to be aware of the consequences of smuggling and its harmful effects. It is this awareness that will help to reduce the demand for smuggled goods and discourage individuals from smuggling.
“Having established the fact that smuggling is a crime, which affects the general well being of the nation, it becomes compelling for all patriotic citizens to join enforcement and regulatory agencies to curb the menace,” he added.
