The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’, Ikeja, has foiled 144 smuggling attempts across the South-West, seizing goods valued at N3.32 billion and arresting eight suspects within six weeks.

Displaying the seized items yesterday at the unit’s warehouse in Ikeja, the Comptroller of the unit, Gambo Aliyu, said the haul included 6,954 bags of foreign parboiled rice (50kg each), equivalent to 12 trailer loads; 77 bags of foreign sugar; and 21 units of assorted used vehicles.

Other items recovered were 3,362 jerrycans of foreign vegetable oil (25 litres each), 20,700 litres of PMS, 915 bales of used clothing, and a 20ft container (No. SUDU 7640333) containing 20 pallets of stone-coated aluminium roofing sheets.

Aliyu said the unit also intercepted 3,029 parcels of a synthetic strain of cannabis indica, known as “Ghanaian loud”, weighing 1,431kg, noting that the operation significantly disrupted drug supply networks in the region.

He said the intensified enforcement drive was carried out amid rising crime, banditry and terrorism, adding that drug trafficking fuels insecurity by supplying substances that embolden criminal elements and destabilise society.

“Drug trafficking fuels these threats by providing chemical catalysts such as methamphetamine and others that embolden perpetrators, erode morale and destabilise the nation. The effects ripple through public spaces, increase health burdens from addiction-related illnesses.

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