The Federal Operations Units (FOU) Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said in Lagos on Wednesday that it has intercepted 384 parcels of Indian hemp concealed in six bales of second hand clothing smuggled into the country from Ghana.
The FOU, which intercepted the illicit consignment along Iyana-Ipaja road in Alimosho area of Lagos State through the help of intelligence information, said it arrested suspects in connection with the drug, who was handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
Speaking to newsmen in his Ikeja office, Mohammed Garba, Customs area controller of the command, said that the command also impounded various contraband items with duty paid value (DPV) of over N334 million.
“FOU Zone ‘A’ also recovered another N274 million from duty payments and demand notices issued on general goods that tried to beat the system from the seaports, airports and border stations under the disguised of false declaration, transfer of value and short-change of government through under-paid duties,” Garba said.
According to him, smuggling is a global phenomenon, which cannot be curbed completely but can bring it to the barest minimum. “The diligence of the officers of FOU Zone ‘A’ has helped in thwarting the antics of some dare devil smugglers, who use different methods to conceal illicit imports but we are always ahead of them.
Garba, who disclosed that the command impounded 4 by 40 feet containers and one by 20 feet container of different items, listed the seized items to include vegetable oil, 50kgs of foreign parboiled rice, frozen poultry products, smuggled vehicles, used tyres and other general merchandise.
He stated that the five containers were impounded for contravening Customs law and rules guiding international trade through false declaration and breach of import prohibition list. One of the containers, he said, was loaded with unprocessed rough wood ready for export, which is prohibited by law due to lack of value addition on the wood.
“While two of the containers carried 4,982 pieces of used tyres, the other two contained 1,292 pieces of general calcium vehicles batteries and piston ring compressor as against pneumatic transmission valve and cylinder linear declared in the SGD forms. This is act of false declaration and it falls under section 46 (f) of Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) Cap C45 LFN 2004, which tantamount to outright seizure,” Garba added.
He however assured Nigerians that his command will always do it bid to fight smuggling and to ensure that the country maintains a crime free society that would lead to economic growth and job creation.
Commenting, Lawal Isiaka, representative of NDLEA, who promised to continue to collaborate with all the government agencies like Customs to curb the rate of imported illicit drugs, said that the street value of impounded Indian hemp is worth N5.2 million.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
