Business
Customs Seizes N612.5m Contrabands
A total of 1,608 prohib
ited goods were seized by the Federal Operation Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service during the first half of 2014.
The Customs Public Relations officer (CPRO) of the command, Ejesieme Uche said this in a statement made available to our correspondent in Lagos.
CPRO said that the goods were valued at N612,513, 600.00, with a payable duty of N323,823,327.00, and a Duty Paid value (DPV) of N936,336,927.00.
The statement said that the figure represented more than 50 per cent improvement when compared with the report of corresponding period of 2013.
It also disclosed that the unit apprehended a total of 111 suspects in connection with the seizures while some were still being investigated.
The statement also said that some of the detained suspects were being investigated by the legal unit while others have been charged to court of competent Jurisdiction.
“The federal operations unit, zone ‘A’ Ikeja-Lagos is the hub and flagship command of anti-smuggling in the Nigeria customs service.
The unit among other responsibilities is vested with the task of suppressing smuggling, facilitation of legitimate trade and monitoring compliance with the fiscal policies of the federal government interms of trade, the statement said.
The image maker of the command however stressed that the war on smuggling cannot be left for the customs alone, adding that it ought to be a collective responsibility.
Some of the seized goods by the command include imported rice through unapproved routes, foreign frozen poultry products, used vehicles, tyres, fridges, vegetable oil, spaghetti noodles and general goods.