Naval personnel attached to the Forward Operating Base, Badagry, Lagos have foiled attempts to smuggle 351 bags of foreign rice worth millions of naira into the country through the Badagry/Port Novo waterways.
Also, 40 packs of Cannabis Sativa weighing 21 kilograms were seized in the Badagry area of the state.
Commanding Officer of the base, Captain James Otache, said no arrest was made as the suspects fled on sighting the naval patrol team approaching.
He said the seizures were made in the last five months, both on land and on the waterways.
“In line with extant regulations and harmonised standard operating procedures, it is expedient that the items are handed over to the appropriate prosecuting agencies – the Nigeria Customs Service and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
“They were arrested on Badagry Port Novo waterway and Badagry beach. Some of them were arrested on land in the course of our patrol. The suspects abandoned their items upon sighting our patrol ship.
So far we haven’t arrested anyone. Our duty is to arrest and hand them to the appropriate prosecutor agencies to take necessary action.
“I want to sound a note of warning to the perpetrators of this heinous crime that we will not rest on our oars to put an end to these nefarious activities,” he said.
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