By Steve Agbota
The operatives of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of Nigeria Customs Service on Tuesday said it intercepted 23,025 litres of PMS, 3,653 X 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice equivalent to 6.5 trailer loads, 1,490 kg of Cannabis popularly known as Indian Hemp and arrested 10 suspected smugglers within January 2024.
This is even as the Unit also recovered the sum of N83.141 million revenue through documentary checks and issuance of demand notices on consignments that were found to have been short-paid.
Showcasing the seizures to newsmen, the Area Controller of the Unit, Comptroller Hussein Kehinde, said that other seizures include 241 bales of used clothes, 1,220 cartons of foreign tomato paste, 983 pieces of used tyres 104 units of Haojuo motorcycles, 556 cartons of slippers and 11 units of used vehicles.
According to him, smuggling is a crime that has to do with the act of false declaration and concealment of goods, the use of unapproved routes and ports for the exportation or importation of goods, forging of Customs documents, willful under-payment of Customs duties, and trafficking in prohibited or restricted goods among others.
He said the impact of smuggling has very serious repercussions on the economy, the environment, health and security.
“Thus, to restrain this trend of illegal commercial activities, there is the need for collaboration and strong partnership with other critical stakeholders through sharing of information and intelligence.
“In a continuous and renewed vigour to fight smuggling, we activated an enhanced intelligence gathering and information sharing mechanism, and were able to identify some new smuggling hot spots and schemes employed by smugglers. This strategy yielded 60 seizures worth a total duty paid value of N854.156 million,” he said.
However, he said the status of these goods was found to have contravened different sections of the Customs Act (2023), while some were expired at the time of importation; others flaunted the import statutory guidelines.
He revealed that a total of ten suspects were arrested in connection with some of the goods.
“The general public is encouraged to be aware of the consequences of smuggling and its harmful effects; because it is this awareness that would help to reduce the demand for smuggled goods and discourage individuals from participating in smuggling activities.
“Having established the fact that smuggling is a crime which affects the general wellbeing of the nation; it becomes compelling for all patriotic citizens to join the enforcement and regulatory agencies to curb the menace of smuggling,” he added.