Customs Arrest Five Suspects, Seize Contrabands Worth N600m

The Nigeria Customs Service said it arrested five suspects, intercepted ammunitions and other contrabands worth Duty Paid Value of over N622m in September.

The Acting Customs Area Controller in charge of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone A, of the service, Hussein Ejibunnu, while addressing journalists at the unit on Wednesday, said the unit also recovered N107m within the period under review.

He said the unit intercepted imported bales of second hand clothing abandoned in an uncompleted building in Lagos.

Within the period under review, he added, the unit intercepted a large cache of Premium Motor Spirit, concealed inside sacks along the Badagry axis of Lagos State.

He said, “Among the September seizures was a massive discovery of bales of 1,955 bales of used clothing in an abandoned building around the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. We made the discovery and evacuation using combined strategies of intelligence, tact and enforcement. Also within the same period, a large cache of PMS ingeniously concealed inside sacks was intercepted at the Badagry Axis of Lagos State.”

“Other seizures recorded within the same period are, “7,328 x 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice, 121,550 litres of premium motor spirit, 68 cartons of frozen poultry, 37 crates of eggs used to conceal rice, 150 kg parcels of Indian hemp, 10 pieces of military Camouflage bags, Six units of used cars, I unit of pump action rifle, 2 units of locally made guns and 35 live cartridges. Five suspects were arrested in connection with some of the seizures mentioned above”

Ejibunnu however said that the Federal High Court passed three judgements in favour of the units securing six convictions for illegal possession of smuggled goods.

He also added that six civil suits against the Unit were dismissed.