…Seizes Various Items In first quarter of 2019
The intensified war against smuggling activities on the water ways in western axis of the Nigeria Customs Service has continued to yield positive result.
Keeping smugglers at bay under the watch of Comptroller Binga Boyiliya of the Western Marine Command is worthy of note as his continuous dialogue with border communities is yielding much result.
The Command recently intercept various smuggled items which includes poultry products, foreign parboiled rice and 1286 wraps of cannabis at different location within its areas of jurisdiction.
Handling over the seized cannabis that worth about N32, 750, 000 to the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday at the command headquarters in Lagos, the command boss said the banned substance weighing about one ton, two hundred and eighty six kilograms, was intercepted at the borders as the owners abandoned their wares when they sighted men of the service.
He disclosed that the command had made a total seizure of 2,035 bags of foreign parboiled rice with Duty Paid Value of about N44,973,500, 1,308 cartons of Frozen poultry product; cannabis and other items with total DPV of N90,967,000 in the first three months of the year 2019.
Adding that no suspect was arrested in connection with the seizures as the smugglers abandoned their items and jumped into the waters.
Comptroller Binga stated that the management teams are working hard to see that the sea going vessels are launched as soon as possible, even as he said that officers of the Service have been trained to man the vessels.
The Area Controller of of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Seme Command, Udotong Essien while receiving the seized cannabis from the Controller, commended the Service for the display of integrity.
Essen maintained that the anti narcotic agency would carry out its own investigations to unravel the people behind the illegal business.
“It takes integrity for the Controller to transfer this amount of seizure. Don’t forget we are talking of over thirty million naira.
“I am very sure if he wanted to compromise, he would have taken such amount of money. There are some agencies that make such seizure and pretend not to know what to do,” he quipped.
