Compt Swomen saving the nation with his eagle-eye * Seizes N212.7million dangerous drugs

Compt Swomen saving the nation with his eagle-eye

* Seizes N212.7million dangerous drugs

* Reveals India as country of origin

The timely intervention by Customs Area Controller (CAC) of Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT), Compt Hammi Swomen and his team in making massive seizure of prohibited pharmaceutical products smuggled into the country illegally can be described as a mission to save the Nigerian nation from health disaster.

Investigations revealed that the prohibited drugs fully loaded in two 40FT containers were illegally imported into the country from India without approval from the appropriate Agency. The Duty Paid Value (DPV) stands at N212,775,950, approximately N212.8million.

The importer currently at large concealed the restricted drugs with manual blenders, in a deliberate attempt to escape security checks at the seaport; but Compt Swomen with his eagle-eye and credible intelligence uncovered the deadly cargo.

With this massive seizure, Compt Swomen and his team have saved the nation from bad effects of dangerous drugs, which would have constituted serious health hazards to Nigerians, especially the youths who are most vulnerable to illicit drugs.

Addressing reporters during a press conference at Port Express Terminal yesterday, where the mind-boggling seizures were unveiled;
Compt Swomen revealed that the drugs came from India.

The CAC while displaying the items expressed strong displeasure at the level of insensitivity by some importers in bringing in offensive items, even when lives and the health of the nation are at stake.

He frowned :. “As you can see, these are restricted drugs in
two 40FT containers.
The manifest shows HOT POT (INSULATED PLASTIC) but on examination we found the following; 2,493 cartons of cough syrup with codeine (100ml); 383 cartons of Barcadin with Codeine (100ml); 49 cartons of Hyegra (Viagra 220mg); 99 cartons of Delux chilly cutter (manual blender).

“The drugs were imported from India without NAFDAC approval number.
The drugs are labelled “For Export only”, which shows that the drugs are not even for consumption in their own Country, yet such drugs are illegally imported to Nigeria. You can see the level of economic sabotage by some importers”.

The CAC pointed out :
“Codeine is prohibited for import, sales and consumption in Nigeria. You can see the quantities of restricted drugs brought illegally into Nigeria. These are what they use in destroying our youths”.

Compt Swomen attributed the feat to the working synergy existing between KLT Command and other sister agencies, even as he commended the agencies for the cordial working synergy in curbing influx of offensive items into the economic ambience.
He informed ; “We jointly opened the containers for examination, so the seizures are products of shared intelligence with other sister agencies”.

Revenue collection :
On revenue performance, the Command raked in a whopping sum of N3,774,386,866 (approximately N3.8billion) in January 2022, compared to N2,501,324,171 billion realised in January 2021, with a surplus of N1,273,062,675 billion, which represents 34 percent increase in revenue generated for the Federal Government.

Background details :
Most outstanding is the ingenuity brought to bear by Compt Swomen in uncovering this criminality and preventing such quantities of dangerous drugs from entering the wrong hands, especially with the security challenge in the country.

Recall that not too long ago, the same Compt Swomen intercepted expired bottled water worth millions of Naira smuggled into the country illegally.