Seme Customs seize petrol, hard drugs, rice, contraband worth N40m
.Hands over suspects, hard drugs to NDLEA
By Silas Onuoha
Some of the seized items
The Customs Area Controller (CAC), Seme Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Comptroller Mohammed Uba said that the Command has made seizures worth N40million in the last two weeks of August, 2019.
He disclosed this through the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Mr Saidu Nuruddeen.
The seizures 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 the perishable items is N367,471.
In the same vein, the Command 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.
Comptroller Mohammed also showcased seizure of 2566 pieces of coins and other foreign currencies made Seme Command within the same period.
His explanation, “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.”
“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.”
“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 and synergy handed over the seized Cannabis Sativa, as well as the suspects to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for further prosecution”.
“The Service will continue to complement the efforts of NDLEA in its fight to rid the nation of illicit drugs”.
