The Seme area command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it intercepted different seized items with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1.8 billion from Jan. 23 to Sept. 8.

The Customs area comptroller, Dera Nandi, told newsmen of the seizures in Seme on Friday.

Giving a breakdown, the controller said they include 9,500 50kg of rice, equivalent to 16 trailer loads of foreign parboiled rice, with a DPV of N312.2 million.

“Others are 13, 835 x 30 litres jerrycans equivalent to 415,050 litres or 13 petroleum tankers with DPV of N738,276,461.

“We also seized 15,389 of general merchandise goods.

“On hard drugs, we seized 41 parcels of cannabis sativa, 4,900 tablets 225mg of Tramadol Tamol-X, 3,600 tablets 225mg Tramadol Royal,” he said.

The controller said the command also seized 157 tablets of Heineken ecstasy and 864 packs of cigarettes.

“In the same vein, officers and men of the command, acting on credible intelligence, intercepted 1,364 (30) litres jerrycans of petrol, equivalent to forty thousand eight hundred (40,800) litres, over one tanker load.

“This is with a DPV of N24,663,355 only,  at the early hours of Sept. 8, along the Badagry Creek.

“The duty paid value for items seized for the period Jan. 23 to Sept. 8, is N1,827,362,619.00,” he said.

Mr Nandi said that the revenue target for the command for the year 2023 was N1,960,000,000 only.

“As at this morning of Sept. 8, the command has collected N1,904,459,390.77 only.

“This represents 97.2% of N1,960,000,000 allotted target for the year 2023,” he said.

The controller said that in the period under review for year 2022, the revenue was N885,543,098.11.

“The implication is that the command revenue profile witnessed a tremendous increase of N1,018,916,292. 33 (51.98%).

“This was a result of painstaking efforts made by the leadership of the command in partnership with our stakeholders to ensure compliance with our revenue generation agenda.

“In the area of anti-smuggling operation, you are already conversant with our past headline seizures of fake six million U.S. dollars equivalent to N2.7bn,” he said.

He said that in line with NCS’ dictate of encouraging its personnel, the officers of the command that were involved in the seizures of fake $6,000,000, 15 fake international passports and 10 Driver’s licences, and donkey skins in January 2023 had been commended by the Ag. Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi.

The commendation and congratulatory letters were presented to 18 beneficiaries by the comptroller. 

(NAN)