The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has confiscated contraband valued at N54.46 million.
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Mohammed Aliyu, made this known on Thursday in a statement issued by Taupyen Selchang, the command’s Public Relations Officer in Lagos.
Aliyu said that the seized items include: 3,200 bags of rice and 1,000 cartons of frozen poultry products.
He said that 720 jerry cans of vegetable oil and 57 bales of second-hand clothes were also intercepted by his officers.
According to him, in recent times, the command engaged in aggressive anti-smuggling operation, thereby tightening the land borders against smuggling activities.
He said that the command was deploying all necessary tools to ensure that the core mandate of the service (revenue generation, facilitation of legitimate trade and suppression of smuggling) were achieved.
“This is because actualising the functions of revenue generation and legitimate trade facilitation depend solely on how smuggling activities are aggressively suppressed to the barest minimum.
“It is against this backdrop that the anti-smuggling unit of the command intensified its operations in order to curb the menace of trans-border crimes (smuggling) and other vices.
“The ongoing aggressive patrol by the anti-smuggling operation unit of illegal routes and the border posts is yielding tremendous results and has translated into the seizure of numerous items,’’ Aliyu said.
The comptroller urged importers to comply with the government’s fiscal policies.