The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Zone ‘B’ CGC Strike Force, says it confiscated goods with duty paid value (DPV) worth N139.71 million between October and November across the zone.
The Coordinator of the force, DC Aliyu Olorukoba, stated this during a briefing on the command’s activities in the last two months, on Monday in Kaduna.
He listed the items seized to include 745 bags of foreign per boiled rice, 16 vehicles in two seizures as well as 622 bales and three sacks of second hands clothes.
Others were 564 25-litre kegs of vegetables oil, 258 cartons of tomato paste, 208 parcels of Cannabis sativa and 121 cartons of pharmaceutical drugs, which, he said, were still under investigation.
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Olorukoba added that 821 cartons of foreign spaghetti noodles, 35 cartons of mosquito coils and 370 25-litre kegs of petroleum motor spirit (PMS) were also impounded within the same period.
According to him, the seizures which is in compliance with the Comptroller-General’s matching order to stop smuggling activities within the zone
The coordinator further advised smugglers to change for the better and start legitimate trade or they move out of the state.
“The Comptroller-General has equipped and motivated us to do everything possible within the law to stop smuggling and that remains our focus, while we create conducive environment for legitimate trading public,” he said.
Olorukoba attributed the successes recorded in the zone to intelligence report and the unwavering efforts of the customs personnel.
He assured that the unit would not relent in curtailing the activities of smugglers in the zone, appealing to the media to help enlighten the public on the dangers of smuggling.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the states within the zone include: Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Kwara, Niger and Plateau.