Operatives of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone ‘A’ on Monday intercepted smuggled foreign parboiled rice, used vehicles, textiles materials as well as Indian hemp worth over N30billion.
The interception comes a month after the Federal Government re-opened the land borders for economic activities.
Announcing the seizure, the Acting Customs Area Controller, FOU, Zone ‘A’, Usman Yahaya, said the contrabands were intercepted between January 1, 2021 and yesterday.
According to sources at the Zone, the seized items were smuggled through the bush parts at Seme, Idiroko, Oyo and Osun states.
Some of the seized items, according to Yahaya, included fake pharmaceutical products worth N51million along Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State as well as Indian hemp smuggled from Ghana to Iseyin in Oyo State.
He said: “After the opening of Seme border by the Federal Government, the smugglers thought they could cash on it to perpetrate their evil act, but the unit left them with heavy loses as evidenced in the seizures.”
Giving account, he said a total of 142,677 seizures of different items were intercepted even as he vowed not to relent in making the environment tough for smugglers.
