Anti-smuggling: Customs FOU Records Seizures of Drugs, Foreign Rice, Others Worth N5.5bn
Gambo
By Francis Ugwoke
Operatives of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have recorded seizures of cocaine, Cannabis sativa, mercury, foreign parboiled rice which duty paid value was put at N5.5bn.
The items were seized in about 8 weeks, according to the Controller, Compt Gambo Aliyu, during a press briefing with newsmen on Tuesday.
Aliyu disclosed that one of the suspects for cocaine trafficking include a 71 year old man, adding that he has been handed over to the NDLEA for regulatory action.
He said that the Unit following advanced surveillance, intelligence sharing frameworks, and inter-agency collaboration thwarted 473 smuggling attempts within eight weeks’
The seizures, according to him, were “8,794 bags of 50kg bags of rice equivalent to 15 trailer loads, (b) Used Tokunbo vehicles- 22 units. c) 1,863 pieces of used refrigerator compressors. d) Used Clothing- 328 bales. e) Vegetable Oil 1188 kegs of 25 litres each. f) PMS- 31, 705 litres. g) 485 pieces used tyres h) 69 cartons of foreign Bonita spaghetti i) 24 bags 50kg each of foreign sugar and Five Cartons of ST Louis. j) 531 cartons of foreign poultry products”.
He further disclosed that the unit reinforced its anti-smuggling strategies to stop the supply chain networks in drug trafficking by launching “OPERATION HAWK”
The Controller explained that this is to curb “illicit goods trafficking, safeguarding revenue and protecting our society and environment from incidences of crime, criminalities and pervasive societal vices that threaten national stability”.
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