Men of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have arrested 12 suspected smugglers in covert operations in the last one month.
The acting Controller of Zone A, Hussein Kehinde Ejibunu, who made the disclosure while briefing newsmen at the unit’s headquarters in Lagos, said the arrests were a clear demonstration of the commitment of the service towards safeguarding the nation’s economy from “recalcitrant saboteurs”.
He said that as a result of the raids and clampdowns on smugglers and the seizures by the unit, dubious importers and traders were either made to pay the maximum duty payable through the issuance of demand notices or made to forfeit their goods to the federal government by way of outright seizure.
He explained that 91 seizures were recorded within the month of August, while 12 suspects were arrested in connection with some of the seizures.
He said, “Worthy of note is the fact that apart from the cartons of codeine syrup we showcased during the last press briefing, additional cartons of the product were again intercepted, making a total of 394 cartons seized within the period under review.
“Notable among other seizures are 6,911 x 50kg bags of foreign rice, 345kg of Indian hemp, 486 cartons of frozen poultry products, 368 pieces of used tyres, 13 used vehicles, 32 cartons of expired batteries, 1 X 40ft container, one used Toyota Corolla, 49 pieces of car rims, 552 pieces of used car tyres, 205 pieces of used truck tyres, 32 pieces of motorcycle tyres, 292 bales of used clothes and 13,525 litres of Premium Motor Spirit.”
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