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By Steve Agbota
The Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Tuesday said it arrested 11 suspected smugglers with various contraband, which included 18,100 litres of premium motor spirit, 5,459 bags of 50kg bags of foreign rice equivalent of nine trailer loads and others worth N872,575,250.
Addressing journalists at a press briefing in Lagos, acting Area Controller of the Unit, DC Hussein Kehinde, said other goods that were seized within November are 376 bales of used clothes, 1,926 cartons of frozen poultry products, 337 pieces of used compressors, 3 X 40 ft containers found to contain, 3,838 pieces of used tyres, 13 used vehicles (Tokunbo) and 396 cartons of frozen fish.
According to him, the total duty paid value of the seized goods stood at N872,575,250, while a total of 11 suspects were arrested in connection with some of the suspects.
On revenue, he said the sum of N71,254,984.71 was generated through conscious and thorough documentary checks, followed by the issuance of demand notices on consignments that were found to have paid lesser amounts than the appropriate Customs duty, adding that smuggling operations that employ ingenious concealment methods can have a chance of successfully trafficking illegal goods across borders or checkpoints without being noticed.
“This calls for the collaborative efforts of all citizens to support the Service by providing useful and timely information that would aid the anti-smuggling drive.
“Ingenious concealment is an activity that plays a significant role in smuggling operations. It allows smugglers to hide illicit goods from detection by concerned authorities. It is important to note that smuggling is illegal and a crime that has negative social, economic, and security implications.
“It is our resolve to continuously work hard to improve detection methods with the aid of intelligence. The strategic deployment of officers with intelligence-driven in anti-smuggling operations led to the arrest of a Toyota Highlander with an ingenious concealment of suspected bags of foreign parboiled rice at Iju-Ojuore, Ogun State.
“These seizures reflect our commitment to the discharge of our functions; aimed at protecting the nation’s economy and preventing the importation of prohibited and harmful products from entering our domestic markets,” he added.
