Apapa Customs impounds 113 Containers Of Fake Drugs, Tramadol in 2020

…facilitates $341m export, rakes In N518bn Revenue

Abiola Seun |.

The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service yesterday said it impounded 133 containers of unregistered, fake pharmaceuticals including banned tramadol in 2020.

Speaking at a press briefing, the Customs Area Controller of the command, Comptroller Mohammed Abba-Kura, said most of the pharmaceuticals lack manufacturing and expired date.

According to the CAC, the seized drugs also lack addresses of where the drugs were produced.

He however said the consumption of the drugs would cause dangers to Nigerians health if they have found their ways into the open markets.

He also said the command made over 318 seizures with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N21.2 billion.

The figures according to him tripled the total seizures for the year 2019, which stood at 112 with total Duty Paid Value (DPV) N12.5 billion.

His words, “Some of the seized items include: 133 containers of unregistered pharmaceutical including tramadol, 58 containers of parboiled rice, 30 containers of vegetable oil, 31 containers of used clothes and shoes and 13 containers of used tyres and other sundry items,” he added.

He said the export unit of the command also witnessed a boost in its activities, saying that the command’s processed exports rose from 262,095 metric tonnes in 2019 to 1,311,365 metric tonnes in 2020.

According to him, the Free on Board (FOB) value for the exported items equally moved from $132.760 million to $340.885 millions within the period under review.
He pointed out that the naira equivalent of the exported items was estimated at N104.310 billion at 306 per US dollar, adding that the exported items include bars, agricultural and mineral products among others.
He revealed that the command between the months of January to December, 2020 collected N518.046 billion revenue and remitted to the federation and non-federation accounts of the Federal Government respectively.

In contrast, he said it showed that the revenue profile of the command has significantly increased by N94.379 billion from the N423.6 billion that was collected in the year 2019, which indicates an increased collection of 22.3 per cent.

On anti-smuggling, he added: “In line with the provision of extant circulars; trade and enforcement of government fiscal policy measures, the command was able to further strengthened its anti-smuggling operations against economic saboteurs, through credible intelligence driven operations and continuous partnership with other relevant agencies for effective port management to stem their illegitimate activities.”