Customs Zone ‘A’ intercepts N10.4bn Contrabands In Three months

Abiola Seun |

The Nigerian Customs Service Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘A’ Ikeja has intercepted various contrabands with duty paid value worth N10.4 billion in three months.

The seizure recorded from January to March included 16,117 bags of foreign parboiled rice with duty paid value of N 160,190, 730, frozen poultry products worth over N4,291,200, raw hide and skin with duty paid value of N7,634,160,000, Wine/Alcoholic 2,471 cartons with duty paid value of 15,192,700, pharmaceutical/Medicament, Tomato paste, fabrics, Vegetable oils used shoes electrical appliances among others.

Even as the Customs Area Comptroller of the unit, Comptroller Muhammed Aliyu said the unit is determined to succeed at all cost as the nations second layer of defence, insisting that the unit would aggressively pursue the enforcement of the Federal Government policy on self sufficiency in food production.

Meanwhile the Command CAC, Muhammed Aliyu also bags the National Agency for food and drugs Administration and control (NAFDAC), awards held at the banquet hall Aso Villa Abuja, for his exceptional qualities, over the seizure of trucks load of tramadol and rejection of 50million naira.

Recall that the unit in the last quarter of 2018 realized a total of N5.1billion from prohibited items seized by the Unit.

Comptroller, of the Zone, Mohammed Aliyu, said that the drive and desire to compliment the Comptroller General’s Policy of entrenching transparency and integrity while enforcing the core mandate of the Service is the determining factor for the success.

He stated that proactive steps of enforcement are truly achieving the desired result and policy of the Federal Government in sustaining agriculture and self-sufficiency in food production, revamping the economic recovery plan, protecting National Security and ameliorating the potential health hazards of the negative impact of smuggled items to the average Nigerian citizenry.

A breakdown of the seizures recorded with their appropriate Duty Paid Values (DPV) from August 17 to December 10 2018 showed that 24 units of seized vehicles and 34 exotic vehicles were seized within this period.

He said: “We intercepted various contrabands with a DPV of N5.1Billion. The seized items include: 24 units of seized vehicles and 34 exotic vehicles, 39,664 bags of foreign

parboiled rice (equivalent of 66 trailers), 3,252 frozen poultry products, 2,887 jerrycans of vegetable oil, 3,792 parcels of Indian Hemp, 5x20ft containers of unprocessed wood, 2,520 bales of used clothing, 710 cartons of tramadol among others.

“The Fifty Eight (58) vehicles under detention/seizure are: 3 Bullet proof vehicles including 1 Lexus Jeep LX 570 (2016) and 2 Land Cruiser Jeeps (2017/2018), 6 Toyota Camry, other vehicles include: 2 Toyota Hilux (2017), 2 Toyota Land cruiser (2016), 2 Nissan Navara (2016) among others.

“As an enforcement Unit of the Service, the Federal Operations Unit will not rest on its oars until there is a total compliance that will translate to effective revenue generation, suppression of smuggling, facilitation of legitimate trade and protecting our national security.

“We are determined to stem the tide against those who have decided to be non-conformist to legitimate process of importation and exportation clearance processes.”