Customs Seizes 54 Containers of Expired Rice, Tramadol at Lagos Ports
*Seized items would have been smuggled into Nigeria through borders if not shut, says Ali
By Francis Ugwoke
The Tin Can Island Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Tuesday announced the seizure of 54 containers of rice, tramadol, other drugs and used tyres.
A breakdown of the seizures announced by the Comptroller General of the Customs, Rtd Col. Hammed Ali showed that 33 containers were expired rice, 11 containers of unregistered drugs, two containers of used tyres, one container of used clothings and four containers of refined vegetable oil.
One of the 33 containers of rice was concealed with spare parts.
The Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the seized items was put at N2.7billion, Ali told newsmen during a press conference.
Ali said: “one significant finding about this seizure is that the rice is expired or about to expire. Also remarkable is the seizure of tramadal variants and unregistered performance enhancing drugs among the pharmaceutical”, he said.
Ali added that the latest seizures confirm the earlier statement by the Service that most of the imported rice were expired.
He said that the idea of bringing expired rice into the country was mainly to rebag them and sell same to unsuspecting Nigerians.
“The grave consequences of consuming this rice and the dread tramadol can only be imagined than experienced”, he said.
According to Ali, the closure of the border has forced some of the smugglers or importers to use Nigerian ports.
He added that the seizures showed that most of the items would have been smuggled into the country through the borders if they were not closed down.
The CG commended the officers and men of the Tin Can Island Customs Command for the seizure.
He also disclosed that the Command recorded as much as N286.7billion between the month of January and October this year.
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