The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced that its operatives intercepted nine containers carrying offensive items, including arms, ammunition, illicit drugs, and second-hand clothes, valued at N13.9 billion.
This was disclosed by the Comptroller-General of the NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, on Monday while addressing journalists at Onne Port in Rivers State.
Adeniyi highlighted that one of the containers, originating from Turkey, became a subject of interest due to numerous risk factors associated with its importation.
He said, “We have tracked its journey across continents and benefitted immensely from credible information through our collaboration with intelligence communities at local, national, and international levels.”
The container was subjected to a thorough physical examination on Friday, June 21, 2024. Adeniyi detailed, “Inside the container were 844 units of assorted rifles and 12,500 pieces of live ammunition, concealed with various items like doors, furniture fittings, and leather bags.” The duty-paid value of the container was stated to be N4.2 billion.
Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the seizures after securing a detention warrant from a competent court of justice.
Regarding the other containers, Adeniyi revealed, “On Saturday, our officers intercepted eight 40-foot containers transiting from a bonded terminal.
Upon examination, six of these containers were found to contain 1.5 million bottles of codeine cough syrup in 100ml sizes and 3.5 million tablets of tramadol.
The duty-paid value of these containers is N9.6 billion, bringing the total duty-paid value of the nine containers to N13.9 billion.”
In related news, on Friday, June 28, 2024, the Joint Border Patrol Team Sector 2 of the NCS intercepted 1,410 liters of premium motor spirit worth N30.4 million within one week.
This was disclosed by the team’s Coordinator, Mohammad Shuaibu, while addressing journalists at the Customs Training College in Ikeja, Lagos State.
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