Customs FOU Zone ‘C’ intercepts Tramadol, other contraband goods

The Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘C’ Owerri, on July 5, 2021 intercepted tramadol and other contraband goods with a Duty Paid Value, DPV, of N99.8 million from April to June 2021.
A statement from the zone’s spokesperson, Jerry Attah on behalf of the Zone’s Comptroller, Yusuf Lawal said, “In the months under review, five suspects were arrested in connection with the seizures.
“The items seized were 45 rolls containing 4,500 sachets of 225mg of royal brand of tramadol, 210 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice, 18 parcels of Indian Hemp, 19, 725 sachets of dizapam tablet, 98 bales of used clothing.
“Others included 220 cartons of foreign tomatoes paste, 12 cartons of foreign Johnson soap, 240 pieces of used tyres, 668 pairs of used shoes, among others mostly intercepted along Okada-Benin/Lagos Expressway.”
According to Attah, Lawal reiterated that even though smuggling is a global phenomenon that cannot be eradicated entirely, invites all hands to be on deck so that it could be reduced to its barest minimum.
“He commended the resilience and doggedness of his officers and men that brought about this result noting that only God knows what would have happened if the tramadol gets to the wrong hand at this trying moment as the negative consequences can not be over-emphasized.
“The Comptroller opined that this feat couldn’t have been possible without the logistics support of the Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali (rtd) and the entire management, as well as the media for your partnership in sensitizing and educating the general public on the evil of smuggling to the nations economy which has led to drastic reduction of smuggling within our zone.
“He further thanked our sister agencies that are always on ground giving us the necessary operational support, most especially the Nigeria Army, Police, DSS among others and look forward to sustaining such relationship that will yield better performance in the remaining half of the year.
“Comptroller Yusuf Lawal while urging his officers/men to always ensure professionalism and be diligent in performing their statutory responsibilities, charged them to sustain the anti-smuggling operations by making sure all revenue leakages are blocked and encouraged them to keep thwarting the antics of those dare devil smugglers who used different methods of concealment for smuggling”, Attah quoted Comptroller Lawal.