Contraband worth over N24.7 Million have been seized by the Federal Operations Unit of the Zone D, Nigerian Customs Service in Bauchi between December 24th, 2018 and January 23rd 2019 in its efforts to rid the country of activities of smugglers.
The disclosure was made by the Comptroller, Federal Operations Unit, Zone D, Peters Olugboyega, while briefing Journalists on the activities of the Unit held on Thursday, at the Zonal headquarters in Bauchi.
He attributed that the successes recorded in the operation were made possible because the vigilance of the Officers and Men of the Unit who are in high spirit to work coupled with the recent allocation of operational vehicles and other gadgets to the Unit by the Management headed by the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd).
According to him, the Operatives of the Unit in Zone ‘D’ Bauchi, apart from blocking and suppressing smuggling within the area, “on 27th December 2018, while acting on a credible Information, patrol along Gombe-Biu axis, arrested one used Mercedes Benz truck with Reg no. USB 498 XA, suspected to be carrying foreign Vegetable Oil and some other local items.
Peters Olugboyega disclosed that “Upon physical examination, the truck was discovered to contain 550 Jerri-Cans of 25Kgs of vegetable oil classified under the Heading 1516 of Common External Tariff with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N10, 650, 000. 00 only.”
He added that on the same day (27th December 2018), the Operatives made another seizure along Gombe-Biu axis of one used Mercedes Benz truck with Reg. No. GJB 35 XA suspected to be carrying smuggled Foreign Rice “Upon physical examination, it was discovered to contain 270 bags of Foreign Rice classified under the Heading 1006 of CET with total DPV of N7, 938, 000. 00) only,” he disclosed.
The Zonal Custom Boss further informed newsmen that: “On 17th January 2019, the Operatives of the Unit made a seizure of one used Peugeot J5 Bus with Reg. No. XLA 265 CA along Jos-Bauchi road carrying 15 bales of worn clothing, 3 jumbo rolls of worn upholstery materials and 3 jumbo sacks of worn hijabs classified under the Heading 6309 of CET with the total DPV of N2, 214, 000. 00 only.”
He further stated that the Operatives of the Unit, on the 23rd January 2019, seized one used Ford Galaxy Sharon carrying Thirty-Nine bags of Foreign Rice along Jos-Bauchi road, classified under the Heading 1006 of CET with the total DPV of N1, 911, 600. 00, only. “The total Duty Paid Value for the four seizures is Twenty-Two Million, Seven Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Six Hundred Naira (#22, 713, 600. 00) only,” he said.
Peters Olugboyega said that the action of the Officers was in line with the provisions of section 8 (Officers have the powers of Police Officers) and Section 158 (Powers to Patrol Freely) of the Customs and Excise Management Act Cap C45 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 as amended and warned smugglers and would-be smugglers to desist from this heinous crime and find a legitimate business because “we would ensure that they, (smugglers) are out of illegal business.”
The Customs Boss reiterated the firm commitment of making the zone a “no-go-area for smugglers saying that the campaign introduced in December 2018, by the Unit code-named “BELLUM ORYZA SATIVA” has started yielding results.
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