Unrelenting in its drive to sustain the tempo of anti-smuggling operation, the Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has made another huge seizure of 9 containers of unprocessed and semi processed wood.
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This is in addition to the seizure of a container of unregistered pharmaceutical, codeine syrup and caps, with a Duty Paid Value of N78.8 million.
The Command Public Relations Officer, DSC Abubakar Usman, in a statement attributed the success of the Command in its anti-narcotic activities to inter-agency synergies between it and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
This is even as Usman said the Command’s leadership is committed to surpassing its revenue collection of N870 billion in 2021, noting that already, a total of N95.3 billion was collected in January 2022, which is higher than the N54.3 billion collected in January 2021 by N39 billion.
The statement reads, “Relying on credible intelligence, the Apapa Command of Nigeria Customs Servicehas Intercepted 9 containers of unprocessed and semi processed wood at the point of loading into a vessel.
“The command also seized a container of unregistered pharmaceutical, codeine syrup and col caps, with duty paid value of N78,797,975.00”
Giving a breakdown of the seized wood, the Customs Area Controller, Yusuf Malanta, said it is worth N70 million.
According to Yusuf, the command’s collaboration with NDLEA has helped in gathering intelligence, leading to seizures of prohibited items as the command acts swiftly on reliable information without waiting for importers to come forward before effecting examination on suspected cargoes.
He said efforts at making Apapa Port a no-go area for unlawful trade will always be sustained while ensuring that maximum revenue is collected into government coffers from all legitimate transactions.
