Customs Arrest 11 Suspects, Impounds Contraband Goods Worth N971.6m

Harboursandport.com: Lagos - The Federal Operations Unit, Zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Wednesday said it impounded Indian Hemp, imported foreign rice, 9 vehicles and other smuggled contraband goods with a Duty Paid Value, DPV, worth N971.6 million in October, 2022.

Disclosing this in Lagos, Customs Area Controller, CAC of the Unit, Hussein Ejibunu, also said that operatives of the Unit also recovered a total of N42.3 million from goods cleared from the seaports and border post for which correct duty were not paid.

The FOU Zone A Customs boss also said that the Unit disclosed that 11 suspects connected with the offensive imports were arrested by officials of the Unit in the cause of impounding the smuggled items.

Ejibunu explained that the “amount would have been lost to individuals, if not for the diligent and meticulous documentary checks by officers of this Unit.”

He listed the seized items to include; 7,403 bags of 50kilograms of foreign parboiled rice, 53,759 litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit, PMS, 121 cartons of frozen poultry product, 724 bales of used second hand clothes’, 3 units of used motorcycles and 97 pieces of used tyres.

Others he said are 162 (96 kilograms) parcels of Indian Hemp, 11 kegs of 25 litres of vegetable oil, 13 units of used fridges, 3,116 pieces of cutlass, 700 rolls of cigarettes, 23 cartons of dates, 9 units of vehicles and two 1x40 containers of charcoal.

According to him, “These seizures are worth a total duty paid value (DPV) of N671.6 million and were seized along the border and port corridors within the South- west Zone. This achievement was possible with the enabling powers of sections: 158 (power to patrol freely), sections 160 – 163 (failure to pay duty on demand, untrue declarations, counterfeiting documents, false scales, etc) of the Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA), Cap C45 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 as amended.

“11 Suspects were arrested in connection with some of the seizures and are at various stages of investigations. Cumulative revenue recovery within the period under review is N42.3 million this amount would have been lost to individuals, if not for the diligent and meticulous documentary checks by officers of this Unit.

“May I use this opportunity to appeal to the trading community to be patriotic by making sincere declarations, and paying the maximum duties/levies payable to the federal government,”