The Seme Area Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it has intercepted 55 wraps of smuggled cannabis concealed under a dead body coming from Ghana along Owode axis.
Speaking during a media briefing yesterday, the Customs Area Comptroller of Seme Customs Command, Mohammed Uba Garba said the command also seized expired biscuits and baby diapers smuggled in through the land border.
In the course of maning the border by officers of the Service, he said a vehicle was flagged down for cross examination and a dead body was found in the vehicle.
He added: “On further examination, something was hidden under the corpse. The vigilant Customs officer wanted to know what it was, they brought the corpse down immediately; we saw cannabis. We didn’t believe it was a dead body, it was opened and it was certified that physically it was a dead body. That was exactly what happened along Owode axis and 55 wraps of cannabis found hidden under the dead body.”
Speaking further, he said the intensified operation of the enforcement unit of the command has drastically reduced smuggling activities to the barest minimum, adding that the command generated about N2.63 billion from March till date.
Giving the breakdown of the seizures made so far by the command, he stated that 2,000 cartons of expired biscuits with a DPV of N7,742,700; 175 x 6 yards of textiles worth N2,242,287; 15 sacks of used clothes with a DPV of N677,486; 28 cartons of medicament worth N1,083,978; 410 sacks of school bags with DPV of N13,227,113, and truck loaded with 493 packs of baby diapers worth N4,100,000.
According to him, 1,582 parcels of Cannabis Sativa found concealed in an Indomie truck; and another notable arrest of 55 parcels of same Cannabis Sativa concealed in a Sienna bus were seized while a total of 1,686 parcels were arrested (with street value worth of over N30 million) for the period under review.
Other notable items seized include; 8,304 bags of 50kg foreign rice which is equivalent to over 14 trailer trucks (DPV) plus a levy of total N88,728,240; 31 X 25 litres of Jerry Cans of vegetable oil with a DPV of N269,911; 35 X 50kg bags of sugar with a DPV of N444,785; 138 x 25 litres of PMS with a DPV of N212,100; 71 cartons of expired food seasoning worth N458,109 and 6336 cartons of alcoholic drinks also worth N4,776,525.
He added: “A total of 11 vehicles have also been seized. Notable among them are Toyota Highlander (2005), Range Rover (2007), Toyota Rav 4 (2006), Toyota Venza (2010) and others. The combined duty paid value (DPV) for the vehicles stands at N46,129,880 while the grand total for both seizures and revenue is about N2.8billion.” Garba stated that six suspects were arrested during the period under review. He further re-emphasised the command’s determination to detect, arrest and prosecute those who fail to comply with the extant regulations; as their failure would be a cause for regret.
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