Customs seizes N3.2bn goods, arrests 8 suspects
The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) Border Drill Operation Sector 4 in Katsina state has said it seized various goods with duty paid value worth N3.2 billion from January 2020 to date.
Sector Coordinator, Border Drill Operation Sector 4, Katsina, Aliyu Mohammed, in-charge of the north -west zone, said within the period, it made 801 seizures and arrested eight smuggling suspects.
Mohammed made this known on Tuesday in Kaduna, while briefing newsmen on the zone’s activities and displaying of seizures made within the zone for the period under review.
Giving a breakdown of the total seizures, he said a total of 1,713 bales of new textile and 5,400 bags of parboiled rice of 25kg concealed in a local bag were seized.
Other items include 9,735 bags of foreign fertiliser 15-15 NPK without address and expiring date, 1.4m litters of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) and diesel.
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He added that 385 pack of Indian hemp, 290 bales of used-clothes, pharmaceutical drugs and injection were also seized.
He however, said that the collaboration with various sister agencies had yielded positive result by helping them in the successful discharge of their responsibility.
According to him, training and retraining of officers and increase in their welfare package also helped a lot.
He also said that with the COVID-19 pandemic, the zone had continued to ensure that officers comply with the NCDC guidelines while discharging their duties.
He disclosed that the service was also strategising on its operations to avoid casualty while calling on the general public to continue to assist with useful information on smuggling activities within their communities.
