Customs intercept 12 containers of illicit drugs worth over N20b in Onne

The Area 2 Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Onne in Rivers State, has intercepted 12 40-foot containers ladened with Codeine, tramadol, and other contraband goods at the Onne seaport in Rivers state.

The Command’s Area Controller, Comptroller Mohammed Babandede, disclosed that the illicit items were concealed in sanitary wares and chilly cutters.

Babandede, while displaying the items before newsmen at Onne on Tuesday said, the duty paid value of the 12 containers was N20.3bn.

He noted that the arrest was made between November and December 2024.
According to him, the seizure was made possible through collaboration with sister security agencies including the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Police, Department of State Security, and others.

He said the seizure underscores the commitment of the Service to safeguarding public health, ensuring the security of the nation, and compliance with Nigeria’s import regulations, adding that it also justifies the Custom’s commitment to trade facilitation, transparency, and effective and efficient service delivery.

Babandede gave the breakdown of the seizure as 1,721,100 bottles of 100ml Cough Syrup Codeine, 510,000 tablets of 50mg Really Extra Diclofenac, 7,100,000 tablets of 225mg Royal apple Tramadol and Tramaking, 3,461 pieces of Sanitary ware Fittings used for concealment, 840 pieces of Chilly cutter used for concealment and 153 cartons of TVS rubber.

The customs controller who used the medium to highlight other achievements by the Command in the year 2024, said the command has surpassed the N618bn revenue target given to them by the Federal Government.

He said: “Earlier in the year the Command was given a revenue target of 618 billion naira. I am glad to inform you that as of this morning the Command with the aid of stakeholder engagement, synergy, collaboration, and intelligence sharing, has surpassed the target given by generating a total revenue of 634 billion Naira which accounts for 103% of the annual target.

This amount is over the 2023 collection by 321 billion Naira and represents a 98% increase over the 2023 generated revenue.”

In the area of anti-smuggling, he said the Command made a total of 76 container seizures comprising arms, ammunition, illicit medicine, vegetable oil, foot wears, donkey skin, and used cloths among other uncustomed goods used as concealment with a duty-paid value of N150,872,551,207.

In export, Babandede said major commodities exported through the Onne seaport axis comprised Agro and Mineral resources namely such as sesame seeds, aluminum ingot, granular urea in bulk, wheat bran, and orange peel among others, that a total of 2,707,339.22 Metric tonnes of goods with a free on board (FOB) value of $952,986,490,99 which is equivalent to N1,261,039,933,168.99 was processed through the Command in the year 2024.

He applauded the Controller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, for giving a special promotion to eight officers of the command for their role in the interception of arms and ammunition in the command, noting that the gesture would bolster morale for effective service.

The Customs Controller, however, assured that the Command would work to surpass the achievements recorded in 2024