…As NDLEA confirms seized suspected substance to be Cocaine
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Tincan Island command, Lagos has said that it collected a total of two hundred and seven billion, eight hundred and thirty eight million, four hundred and fifty thousand, nine hundred and seventy four naira (207,838,450,974.00) between January and October 2016.
The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the command, Comptroller Yusuf Bashar who disclosed this while reviewing the operational module of the command recently stated that the amount represented a positive trend in consideration of the prevailing economic recession which had become a global phenomenon.
Recall that the CAC, on assumption of office few months ago, had re-jigged the operational and revenue generating capacity of the Command through some far reaching measures aimed at blocking all identifiable areas of revenue leakages.
During a recent meeting with key stakeholders in the maritime industry, the Controller had charged them to continually educate and sensitize members of their various organizations on the need to support the Federal Government and the Nigeria Customs Service through honest declarations in all their documentation.
According to him, “A major constraint which we have continued to address is the issue of false declaration, deliberate misapplication of harmonized system code on items among other infractions. However, I am confident that with the measures which we have put in place, it will be practically impossible for anybody to manipulate or circumvent the process without being caught”.
Speaking on the measures and plans to further enhance the capacity of the command to deal with some of the vices, Bashar pointed out that he was fully committed and determined to deliver on his mandate, promising to ensure that the various operations in the value chain were compelled to key into the change ideology of the Federal Government.
“We will continue the strategy of stakeholder engagement, training and re-training of our personnel as well as collaboration and synergy with the critical agencies in line with the vision and mission of the Comptroller General, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd.) and his management.
“We will continue to remain on top of our mandate through strict adherence with the extant laws for maximum revenue generation”, he said.
Meanwhile, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has confirmed that the eight (8) bags (25 pieces per bag) of unidentified substance found in 1 x 20ft container No. CMAU 045195/0 is Cocaine weighing 214.732kg.
This particular seizure ranks among the highest in terms of volume in the country in recent times.
In the words of the CAC, “This is no doubt a spectacular and remarkable seizure considering the well articulated intelligence coordination mechanism adopted and harnessed by the command in its resilience to achieve desired results”.
He stated that all hands were on deck in all ramifications to ensure that Tincan Port continued to blaze the trail especially with the recent commendation from the CGC and his Management to the command for being at the Vanguard of due diligence and professionalism.
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