The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it has intercepted 16 containers of prohibited items valued at N10 billion at the Lagos Port Complex (LPC) in Apapa.
Speaking in Lagos on Monday, Adewale Adeniyi, comptroller-general (CG) of customs, said the seizures followed intelligence-led operations and joint inspections with other security agencies.
Adeniyi said the recovered items include two pump-action rifles, 25 rounds of ammunition, and 202 cans of Colorado Loud, a Canadian strain of cannabis, concealed in a 40-foot container numbered MRSU6407089.
He noted that each can of the Colorado loud weighed 500 grams, amounting to 101 kg — about the weight of two bags of cement.
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Adeniyi said the container was initially cleared, but a secondary search revealed the contraband, adding that the shipment was consigned to one Babatunde Ogidiolu of Lagos.
The customs CG added that further inspections uncovered a Smith & Wesson pistol with 55 rounds, seven containers of expired drugs, three containers of expired margarine, and three containers of prohibited used clothing.
He said operatives also seized two 40-foot containers loaded with 1,290 sacks of frozen poultry products each and one container (ZZSU7277511) with 305 cartons of counterfeit toothpaste concealed with beads and jalabiya dresses.
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He said two containers of expired chest and lung tablets without the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) approval and two 40-foot containers of codeine-based products linked to the same network behind earlier seizures were also confiscated over the weekend.
Adeniyi added that the service has strengthened the use of technology, intelligence, and inter-agency collaboration to combat smuggling.
“We work on tightropes to ensure no mandate suffers,” Adeniyi said.
“The results in the last two years justify our efforts in striking a healthy balance.”
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