…Arrests five suspects
The Federal Operations Unit, Zone C of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) with headquarters in Owerri, the Imo state capital has intercepted tramadol and other contraband with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of Ninety-Nine Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira (N99,820,000,00) between the months of April and June, 2021.
This is sequel to the strengthening of the anti-smuggling arm of the unit.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Jerry Attah who disclosed this in a statement in Owerri on Monday further adds that five suspects were arrested in connection with the intercepted goods.
Giving the breakdown of the goods, Attah pointed out that 45 rolls containing 4,500 sachets of 225mg of royal brand of tramadol, 210 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice, 18 parcels of Indian Hemp, 19, 725 sachets of dizapam tablet and 98 bales of used clothing were impounded by the command.
Others according to him include; 220 cartons of foreign tomatoes paste, 12 cartons of foreign Johnson soap, 240 pieces of used tyres, 668 pairs of used shoes, among others mostly intercepted along Okada-Benin/Lagos expressway.
He quoted the Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the command, Yusuf Lawal as reiterating that even though smuggling is a global phenomenon that cannot be eradicated entirely, all hands must be on deck so that it could be reduced to its barest minimum.
The command’s spokesman further quoted the CAC as commending the resilience and doggedness of his officers and men that brought about the result noting that only God knows what would have happened if the tramadol gets to the wrong hand at this trying moment as the negative consequences cannot be over-emphasized.
“The Comptroller opined that this feat couldn’t have been possible without the logistics support of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd) and the entire management, as well as the media for your partnership in sensitizing and educating the general public on the evil of smuggling to the nation’s economy which has led to drastic reduction of smuggling within our zone.
“He further thanked our sister agencies that are always on ground giving us the necessary operational support, most especially the Nigeria Army, Police, DSS among others and look forward to sustaining such relationship that will yield better performance in the remaining half of the year.
“Comptroller Yusuf Lawal while urging his officers/men to always ensure professionalism and be diligent in performing their statutory responsibilities, charged them to sustain the anti-smuggling operations by making sure all revenue leakages are blocked and encouraged them to keep thwarting the antics of those dare devil smugglers who used different methods of concealment for smuggling”, Attah said.
Photo 1: Customs Area Controller, Federal Operations Unit, Zone C, Owerri, Comptroller Yusuf Lawal.
Photo 2: Sachets of Dizapam tablets impounded during the period.
Photo 3: Parcels of Indian Hemp impounded during the period.
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