By Steve Agbota
The operatives of Federal Operation Unit Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service yesterday said that it arrested six suspected smugglers in connection with various contraband worth over N1.720 billion.
The Unit said notable among the items seized from the suspected smugglers are: 820 litres of petrol, seven trailer loads of rice, 3,643kg of cannabis sativa and others worth over N1.720 billion.
The Customs Area Controller of the Unit, Comptroller Kola Oladeji stated this in Lagos while addressing newsmen, saying that the Unit would not relent in its anti-smuggling efforts to tackle economic saboteurs known as smugglers.
Given the breakdown of the seizures, he said: “
foreign parboiled rice:3, 832 X 50KG bags each equivalent to seven trailer loads, 27 units of used vehicles also known as tokunbo vehicles, premium motor spirit(PMS),494 Jerry cans equivalent to 14,820 litres, used clothing, 27 bales, charcoal,95 bags, and 3,643kg of cannabis sativa were all intercepted in South West in one month.
According to him, these seizures have a cumulative duty paid value (DPV) of N1.720 billion.
“The successes recorded so far this year were not made on a platter of gold. It took the painstaking efforts of our officers who spent hours on patrol and surveillance of our borders to achieve these seizures. Let me reiterate that we will not relent on our oars. Our resolve commitment to tame the activities of illegal trans-border trade and other crimes remains sacrosanct.
“The unit will continue to dialogue, engage, sensitize and educate the public on the social/ economic implications of smuggling as well as performing the statutory function of enforcing compliance in line with government fiscal policy.
“In line with the dictates of the Nigeria Customs Service of promoting inter-agency cooperation and synergy, the seized 3,643kg of cannabis sativa will be handed over to the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency for further investigation and subsequent prosecution,” he explained.
On revenue collection, he said the unit recovered a total sum of N72. 442 million through the issuance of Demand Notices (DN) as a result of the irregular declaration of consignments.
He added that the unit would continue to enforce the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 as it relates to import and export goods to prevent revenue losses.
Speaking on trade facilitation, he said the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, since coming on board, has rolled out several trade facilitation tools to help boost revenue and grow the economy.
He pointed out that trade facilitation tools such as Time Release Study (TRS), Advance Ruling and the recently launched Authorize Economic Operator (AEO) have increasingly boost investors confidence and efficiency of customs operations.
“This unit has since keyed into these laudable initiatives of the CGC by collapsing some patrol teams operating within the Lagos metropolis. This is aimed at removing unnecessary trade impediments and facilitates a business-friendly environment.
“In conclusion, we thank the CGC and his management team, officers and men of the Unit, community leaders and partner government agencies who are showing concern and collaborating with the service for continuous support. We also thank the media for their objectives reportage on our operations,” he added.