The Nigeria Customs Service Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’, Lagos State, has intercepted various contraband items with a cumulative duty paid value (DPV) of N1.72 billion.
Some of the 82 seizures made during the period under review, were 3, 832 bags (50kg each) of foreign parboiled rice, an equivalent of seven trailer-load and Cannabis Sativa, weighing 3,643kg, with a DPV of N291,440, 000 and foreign parboiled rice.
The disclosure was made by the he Customs Area Comptroller (CAC) of the Unit, Comptroller Kola Oladeji at a press briefing held at the Unit’s warehouse on the 26th of March, 2025 while listing other intercepted contraband to comprise 27 used vehicles, also known as ‘tokunbo’; 494 Jerry cans of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), equivalent to 14,820 litres; and 27 bales of used clothes.
Among the seized vehicles was a 2024 model of Lexus jeep LX 600, valued at One Hundred and Ninety-six Million, Two Hundred and Forty-seven Thousand, Fifty-six Naira (YN196,247,056,00).
According to the CAC, the unit generated
N72, 442,526.73 through issuance of Demand Notices (DN) as a result of irregular declaration of consignments, pointing out that: “The unit will continue to enforce the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, as it relates to import and export goods, to prevent revenue losses.
“The operatives of FOU ‘A’ have intensified surveillance of our borders within the South Western States. This onslaught is against the activities of economic saboteurs in areas of the Service.
“Key Performance Indicators (KPI), which include revenue generation, suppression of smuggling and facilitation of legitimate trade, have continued to record significant successes through our ongoing operations, code named ‘Swift Sting Operations,’ and the efforts of other patrol teams.
“During the period under review, the unit recorded milestones in its anti-smuggling operations. Some of these landmark achievements comprise 82 interceptions,” the CAC stated..
The Area Comptroller went further to state that the successes so far recorded by the unit this year, were not made on a platter of gold, adding that: “it took the painstaking efforts of our officers, who spent hours on patrol and surveillance of our borders to achieve these seizures.”
Comptr. Oladeji in the meantime, reiterated that the Unit had been relentless in its resolve to tame the activities of illegal trans-border traders and other crimes, affirming that more efforts would be geared towards ensuring that the Unit dialogues, engages, sensitizes and educate the public on the social and economic implications of smuggling, as well as performing the statutory function of enforcing compliance in line with government fiscal policy.
CAC Oladeji further appreciated the
Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, confirming that since assumption of duty, that CGC has continued to roll out a number of trade facilitation tools that helped to boost the nation’s revenue and grow the economy.
In his words: “The Customs CG, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, since coming on board, has rolled out a number of trade facilitation tools to help boost our revenue and grow the economy.
“Trade facilitation tools such as Time Release Study (TRS), Advance Ruling and the recently launched Authorized Economic Operator (AEO), have increasingly boosted investors’ confidence and efficiency of customs operations.
”This Unit has since keyed into these laudable initiatives of the CGC by collapsing some patrol teams operating within the Lagos metropolis. This is aimed at removing unnecessary trade impediments and facilitates a business-friendly environment,” the CAC opined.
Handing over the intercepted Cannabis Sativa to Deputy Commander of Narcotics DC Maiyaki, the CAC said: “In line with the dictates of the Nigeria Customs Service of promoting inter-agency cooperation and synergy, the seized 3,643kg of cannabis sativa will be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation and subsequent prosecution.
Being optimistic that the fight against smuggling requires collaborative efforts of all security agencies, CAC Oladeji expressed his appreciation to sister agencies, and solicited for more support from them.
