Frozen foods concealed as vegetables intercepted at Lagos airport

Two consignments of frozen foods worth N68.8m which were intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), were destroyed on Wednesday November 13.

Speaking to newsmen, Customs Area Comptroller (CAC) Mr. Wale Adeniyi said one of the consignments was concealed as vegetables while the other consignment was allegedly abandoned by the importer at Gate 13 of the airport.

It was gathered that the first consignment containing meat, chicken, turkey and other frozen foods were discovered on South African Airways on November 10, 2019.

He said, “Though, the Airway Bill described the goods as fresh vegetables, but they were rather frozen foods, which are contraband in the country. It became obvious that the importer through his agents has prepared pre-release documentations purporting the imports to be fresh vegetables with the sole intention to evade the import prohibition order.”

Daily Trust reported that Wale Adeniyi further disclosed that the second consignment of 104 cartons which had pork meat, beef, and turkey was abandoned inside four dollies close to Gate 13.