Lagos – The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’, says it intercepted 473 smuggling attempts and recovered goods with a duty paid value (DPV) of N5.5 billion over eight weeks of intensified operations across the South-West.
The unit’s comptroller, Gambo Aliyu, disclosed this on Tuesday at a news conference in Lagos, attributing the success to enhanced surveillance, intelligence sharing, and inter-agency collaboration.
Mr Aliyu said key seizures recorded between February 3 and April 28 included 8,794 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice – equivalent to approximately 15 trailer loads.
Other intercepted items included 3,340 parcels of cannabis indica, popularly known as “Ghanaian loud”, weighing 1,540kg, alongside 6.4kg of cocaine and methamphetamine with an estimated street value of N2.35 billion. The hard drugs, he said, were found in a Toyota Highlander at Elijah Bus Stop along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor.
The comptroller further listed 22 used (Tokunbo) vehicles, 1,188 kegs of vegetable oil, 31,705 litres of premium motor spirit (PMS), 328 bales of used clothing, and 485 used tyres among the seizures.
Also recovered were 1,863 used refrigerator compressors, 531 cartons of foreign poultry products, 69 cartons of foreign spaghetti, and 24 bags of foreign sugar.
In a separate operation, Mr Aliyu disclosed that operatives intercepted four cylinders of high-grade mercury concealed in a Toyota Avensis at the Gbaji outpost.
