Story by Dili Utomi.
The period between the 1st-31st of January 2021 was a particularly busy one for the men of the Federal Operations Unit, Zone C of the Nigeria Customs Service. The Unit over the period intercepted various contrabands with a
Duty Paid Value (DPV) of Eight Hundred and Sixty Nine Million,
Five Hundred and Fifty Thousand, Three Hundred and forty Five
Naira (N869,550,345.00) only.
The CAC displaying some of the seized items.
The seized items include 1,024 cartons of unregistered
pharmaceutical products, 1,046 bags of foreign parboiled rice of
50kg each, 290 cartons of imported Eva Soap, 62 jumbo bales of
secondhand clothing, and one Toyota Corolla 2018 model.
The CAC of the Unit DC Yusuf Lawal PSC+ while addressing the media has promised to continually make smugglers count their losses as he said ‘that the 1,046 bags of foreign parboiled rice were trailed and evacuated from an unnamed warehouse along Elelenwo Road Port Harcourt based on credible and timely intelligence, following laid down operational procedures, rules of engagement and ensured professionalism backed by section 147 and 151 of Customs and Excise Management Act Cap C45 LFN 2004’.
More pix from the press briefing.
CAC Yusuf stated that the drugs were intercepted along Ofosu-Benin Expressway based on shared intelligence as he added that ‘the 290 cartons of soap were intercepted along Aba-Owerri Road based on intelligence’. He went on to say ‘You may recall that Soaps and detergents are still on the Import Prohibition list, which falls under schedule 3 of Common External Tariff (CET)”.
DC Yusuf indicated that there is no amount of resistance from the smugglers and their mob accomplices that will deter the unit from performing their statutory responsibilities by suppressing smuggling within the zone. He lauded the inter agency cooperation between his Unit, the military, police and other security agencies as he thanked the media for their support in informing, sensitizing and educating the general public on their activities.
More pictures from the briefing.
