By Joy Yesufu
The Federal Operations Unit Zone C Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced the interception of contraband goods valued at a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million within a two-month period, from July 15 to September 15, 2024.
This zone encompasses six states in the South-South and five in the South-East regions of Nigeria.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday.
The statement stated that the figures were revealed by Comptroller Michael Ugbagu during a presentation of the seized items to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo State.
Additionally, the NCS reported the recovery of N25.57 million through demand notices issued for regulatory infractions, bringing the total value of intercepted goods and recovered funds to N536.49 million.
Among the seized items were: 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol, 3,350 bottles of codeine cough syrups lacking NAFDAC registration numbers, 1,015 sacks of dried donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing.
Others include 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.
Comptroller Ugbagu expressed particular concern over the interception of the tramadol and codeine cough syrups, saying that “had these items reached the market, they could have had serious negative effects on youth”.
The items were primarily intercepted along the Ewu-Okada and Benin expressways, based on credible intelligence.
