Customs operatives seize 61 smuggled SUVs, illegal drugs worth N2.8 billion
Officials from the Federal Operations Unit, Zone B of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) in Kaduna State have seized 61 smuggled Sports Utility Vehicles, textile products, and drugs with Duty Paid Value worth N2.8 billion.
The FOU Comptroller, Dalha Wada, announced that the smuggled vehicles were confiscated from smugglers across the North-Central and North-West zones due to the unit’s intelligence drive and enhanced operational strategies.
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Wada also expressed concerns about smugglers employing new tactics to avoid detection, such as collaborating with bandits in the northern region to transport contraband products into the country and creating new illegal routes for smuggling.
In the span of three months, the unit made a total of 242 seizures involving 21 different items, notably, 61 SUVs with counterfeit government plate numbers were seized from smugglers attempting to bypass border checks in the North-West zone.
During a presentation of the seized items to journalists, Wada emphasised the need to combat these smugglers, labeling them as enemies of the country.
Additionally, the unit impounded over 2,000 bags of foreign parboiled rice, cartons of vegetable oil, bales of foreign second-hand clothes and shoes, and drugs, which were handed over to the representative of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for further legal action.