The Nigeria Customs Services, Kwara Out-Station Command, on Saturday destroyed N3.5m worth of frozen chicken and turkey.
According to the Kwara Out-Station Public Relations Officer, NCS, Niger/Kwara/Kogi Command, Mr. George Onuma, the contraband was loaded in a truck with registration Number TUT 88 XA and a Golf car with registration number, Sokoto, SO 9838 SD. He added that the occupants of the vehicles fled.
He said the truck was loaded with 312 cartons of frozen turkey, while the car was loaded with 20 bags of rice and 33 cartons of frozen chicken.
Onuma said a special task force from the NCS headquarters, codenamed Hawk Defence, which was set up by service’s Comptroller-General, Mr. Abdullahi Dikko, intercepted the smugglers at Alapa area of Kwara State.
The seized poultry products were destroyed before officials of the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and journalists.
The Customs spokesperson warned Nigerians against smuggling, saying that smuggled frozen poultry birds could be hazardous, owing to the chemical used in preserving them.