The Federal Operations Unit, Ikeja, of the Nigeria Customs Service has seized 5,020 cartons of smuggled poultry products with a Duty Paid Value of N30m. It was gathered that the products were hidden in a truck containing 2,016 pieces of Nestle-bottled water.
The truck was said to have been intercepted along the Sagamu-Ijebu Ode Expressway.
The Controller, Federal Operations Unit, Zone ‘A’, Comptroller Amade Abdul, said on Sunday that a special assignment team, led by Assistant Comptroller of Customs, Shittu Abdulmaruf, intercepted the truck while on information patrol at about 9pm October 1, 2015.
He said, “The vehicle was immediately brought down to the headquarters of the FOU in Ikeja, where a search revealed the smuggled poultry products concealed between packages of the bottled water.”
Abdul added that a suspect had been apprehended in connection with the seizure and would give clues towards unraveling the major kingpins behind the crime.
He said, “We suspected that the smugglers wanted to take the advantage of the Eld-el Kabir celebration to perpetrate their crime.
“We have recorded remarkable achievement in the fight against smugglers of poultry products. This can be observed from the scarcity and high cost of the products in the Nigerian market.
“Our aggressive patrols have turned the heat on smugglers, forcing them to seek alternative means of smuggling, but we are determined to prevent them from succeeding.”
Abdul called on Nigerians to support the NCS in its fight against economic saboteurs to avert the adverse consequences of smuggling.
He added that team leaders and unit heads of the FOU had been admonished to be professional and combat-ready at all times in checkmating the excesses of smugglers.
He said, “We have taken cognisance of the new order and we must work towards ensuring that the mission and vision of the Comptroller-General is actualised,” Abdul said.
By Pita Ochai
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