N40m seizures: Seme Customs hands over hard drugs, suspects to NDLEA .137 Jerrycans of petrol .Foreign currencies .Rice, poultry products top list of seizures

N40m seizures: Seme Customs hands over hard drugs, suspects to NDLEA

.137 Jerrycans of petrol

.Foreign currencies

.Rice, poultry products top list of seizures

By Udeme Clement

More details reaching us from Seme Customs Command of Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, shows that the seizures made in the last two weeks include 875 bags of foreign rice, with Duty Paid Value, DPV, of N15m; 12 Jerrycans of vegetable oil worth N131,625;  six bags of refined sugar with DPV of N147,640; 535 bales of secondhand clothes worth N17,259,769 and 20 parcels of Cannabis Sativa(Indian Hemp), with street value of N516,180.

Other items seized within the same period, which are perishable goods include 269 baskets of fresh tomato, one basket of fresh pepper, seven sacks of cucumber/ pineapples and 16 baskets of fresh okro from Benin Republic.  The worth of the auction for perishable items is N367,471.

That was not all.  The Command also seized 16 sacks of used shoes, belt and ladies bags worth N541,989; 57 pieces of textile materials, wrappers worth N367,778; 65 cartons of poultry products with DPV of N948,333 and 137 Jerrycans of petrol with DPV of N287,700  among other items.

The Customs Area Controller, CAC, of Seme Command, Comptroller Mohammed Uba made this known through the Public Relations Officer, PRO, Mr Saidu Nuruddeen.

He further revealed that the Command seized 2566 pieces of coins and other foreign currencies.

According to him,  “One of the vehicles used for conveying the contraband is a Toyota Hiace Bus, worth N2,907,450, of G-Express Company, with registration number ENU 962 ZK, believed to be coming from Ghana.”

He explained, “Upon careful examination at the baggage inward hall, it was discovered to contain five parcels of items suspected to be Cannabis Sativa, concealed in the Bus.”

He went on, “Consequently, the bus driver, his boy and the cargo handler were all promptly arrested and detained.

“The Command, in its spirit of inter-agency cooperation handed over the seized Cannabis Sativa, as well as the suspects to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for further prosecution”.

His assertion, “The Service will continue to complement the efforts of NDLEA in its fight to rid the nation of illicit drugs”.

The CAC reiterated the Command’s commitment to strict implementation of the fiscal policies of government and extant laws on its daily operations at the international corridor.