No fewer than 16 containers laden with hard drugs, arms, expired pharmaceuticals, banned poultry and counterfeit goods valued at over ₦10 billion were seized by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the Lagos Port.
Also, some of the contraband are expired chest and lung tablets, margarine, two pump-action rifles, 25 cartridges, a Smith & Wesson pistol with 55 rounds of ammunition and other accessories concealed within the containers.
The seizures led to the arrest of five suspects, three of whom have been charged in court and remanded in Ikoyi Prison, while two are on administrative bail.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said on Monday that the seizures followed weeks of intelligence gathering, coordinated inspections and inter-agency collaboration, saying that the service would pursue the importers and their accomplices network for network until they are brought to justice.
Adeniyi stressed that Nigeria would not be turned into a dumping ground for dangerous imports, adding that one of the containers, a 40-foot box was initially passed as clean cargo but upon a secondary joint examination with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), was found to contain 202 cans of Colorado Loud (Canadian marijuana) weighing 101 kilogrammes.
The comptroller general stressed that one of the containers was consigned to one Mr. Babatunde Ogidioglu of Lagos.
Other seizures are seven containers of expired drugs and prohibited medicaments, three containers of expired food products, mainly margarine, three containers of absolutely prohibited used clothing, and two 40-foot containers, each carrying 1,290 sacks of frozen poultry.
Adeniyi revealed that one container was found to have 305 cartons of unregistered toothpaste concealed under beads and jalabiya in violation of NAFDAC and brand protection regulations.
Two containers of expired chest and lung tablets without NAFDAC registration numbers were also intercepted, while two newly arrived 40-foot containers of codeine syrup were traced to the same syndicate responsible for previous drug imports.
He put the duty-paid value of all the seized items at over ₦10 billion, warning that the figure did not reflect the much higher street value of the goods in the hands of criminals.
Adeniyi said the Service would not reverse its decision to stop the transfer of pharmaceutical containers to bonded terminals outside the ports, stressing that many of the operators had failed to meet licensing and compliance obligations.
According to him, intelligence indicates that those arrested are linked to a wider international network of traffickers and smugglers.
He said: “The service would intensify cooperation with agencies such as NAFDAC, NDLEA, and foreign customs administrations under a Customs-to-Customs Cooperation framework to track and dismantle the syndicate’s operations.
“We have credible intelligence that these criminal elements are working together. As they collaborate, we will also work together locally and globally to crush their operations.”
