Officers of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A, Ikeja, Lagos, have seized different types of expensive vehicles and contraband goods worth over one billion naira in Lagos.
Arrested in connection with the seized items were 17 suspected smugglers. Customs, it was learnt, accosted some of the smugglers along Ijebu-Ode Expressway. Among the suspects is a Chinese National Mr. KO Sing Ying.
Addressing reporters in Lagos, the Area Controller Mohammed Uba, said 18 assorted vehicles and 4,201 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice were parts of the items seized from the smugglers.
The vehicles, according to the controller, include one Escalade, one Rolls Royce, one Chrysler, one Audi Q7, one Land Rover HSE, one Toyota Venza, one Ford Taurus, one Honda Cross Tour, four Mercedes Benz and three Kia Rio, among others.
The vehicles range from 2008 to 2015 model.
Uba said his men seized about seven trailer loads of bags of smuggled parboiled rice, with a duty paid value (DPV) of over N51million.
Other seized items include 2619 cartons of frozen poultry products, 1,105 jerry cans of vegetable oil, 2,637 pieces of used tyres, 1,333 bales of used clothing, 2,001 kg of Pangolin and 343 kg of Elephant Turks among others.
It was gathered that the value of the Pangolin shells is over N408million, while the Elephant Turks valued over N85million and the two items have been handed over to the officials of the Nigeria Environment Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
Findings revealed that the Warehouse Operation Team led by Assistant Comptroller Mutalib Sule raided an apartment at No 38, Ogundana Street, off Allen Avenue, busted the house where the suspected smugglers kept the Pangolin shells and the Elephant Turks.
It was also, gathered that some of the dealers in Lekki used the Lagos sea port stickers and used number plates on some of the vehicles as a decoy to beat Customs’ checks. But unknown to them, Customs officials had been monitoring their movement for days before swooping on them.
Uba vowed that the unit is determined to make all the smugglers in their area of jurisdiction bankrupt if they continue with their illicit business.
The value of the contraband seized by the unit in the month of February, according to him, is N1,035,232,046.13. - The Nation
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