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.
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