Comptroller Aliyu Mohammed of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), zone A has disclosed that the unit, in the past two month intercepts 113 units of exotic vehicles with duty paid value of N1,339,088,544 and other seizures worth about N610,470,320.
The unit boss made this known to newsmen on Wednesday in Lagos while conducting them round the various seizures made by officers and men of the unit from February 6 through April 16 2019 .
The various seizures shown to newsmen are trucks of rice valued at N190,961,320; 180 Jerry cans of 25 litre vegetable oil worth N1,440,000; 157 bales of used clothes valued at N9,420,000; frozen poultry products worth N1,400,000 and 265 pieces of used tyres worth N1,855,000.
According to the unit controller, it has become a frequent trend bursting the cover of the smugglers. “We make these seizures daily and we rely on intelligence to uncover what smugglers are hiding. On the allegations of harassment of smugglers by customs officers, our men work with information and endeavour not to inconvenience travelers while performing our duty.
“Our warehouse is filled with rice seizures and more are being seized. We encourage Nigerians to patronise our high quality locally grown rice ” he said.
Also seized are 280 pieces of machetes and tomato paste worth N462,000 and N62,000 respectively making the unit to record a total of N2b seizures within the period under reviewed.
Notable among the seizures are prohibited drugs with no National Agency for Food and Drug Administration ( NAFDAC) number.
Reiterating his resolve to sustain the fight against illicit drug smuggling, the anti-smuggling doyen said he is ready to do more in the fight against fake and unregistered drugs.
Stating that the recent award given to him by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and NAFDAC for his contributions to the fight against drug smuggling is serving as a motivation to continue in stopping the illegality of drug smuggling.
” Some of the smuggled drugs concealed with other goods do not have NAFDAC number and they are capable of destroying lives.
“Our duty as Customs officers is not only collect revenue and facilitate trade. We are working to save lives too. Those who are complaining about our presence on the roads are not sincere in their dealings” he quipped
The seized drugs are codeine syrup, diclofenac, paracetamol injection and Chest and Lung tablets.
Recalled that the unit boss was recently along side acting ACG Abubakar Bashir awarded by the National Agency For Food and Drugs Control (NAFDAC) for his outstanding performance in the fight against smuggling activities.
