Customs FOU intercepts N1 billion contraband in one month

The Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Lagos has recorded quite a number of successes in the interception of contraband products with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of about N1.01 billion over the past one month.

The Area Controller of the unit, Mohammed Ubah while parading the seized items before the media in Lagos also noted that the unit through its interventions was able to recover over N28 million from underpayments alone which makes a cumulative of over 1.03 billion being recovered between April 10th and May 15th 2018.

Giving a breakdown of the intercepted goods, Ubah said 30 exotic vehicles which included seven Toyota Hilux (2018 models), three Toyota Prado Jeeps (2017), a range rover and one Ford Edge (2015) are currently in Customs custody.

Also intercepted by the unit were 5,516 bags of foreign parboiled rice (about 9 trailers), 1,078 cartons of frozen poultry products, 216 jerry cans of vegetable oil, 173 bales of used clothing, 683 pieces of used tyres, and eight sacks of Indian hemp weighing 134kg, among others.

Ubah said the command also seized two 40ft containers for false declaration with a DPV of over N25 million, adding that a total of 14 suspects were arrested in connection with these seizures.

He stated that the arrested suspects were currently undergoing investigation while the confiscated Indian hemp would be handed over to the National Drug Law and Enforcement Administration NDLEA for further investigation.

While commending the officers and men of the unit for living up to their statutory responsibilities in suppressing smuggling activities, Ubah mentioned that some of the seized items were being moved to internally displaced centres (IDPs) in Borno State under the supervision of the presidential committee of IDPs chaired by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Hameed Ali.

Some of the items donated to IDP includes: 25,318 bags of rice 50kg ( about 42 trailers), 3,366 jerry cans of 25 liters; 175 gallons of vegetable oil (five litres); 1,564 bales and 122 sacks of second hand clothing; 196 sacks and 938 pairs of used shoes.

Describing the smugglers as economic saboteurs, he advised them and fraudulent importers to invest their resources in legitimate trade and desist from smuggling activities, threatening to make the zone uncomfortable for smugglers to operate.