ABUJA: The Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, has said it has apprehended about 36 suspects and made a seizure of 482 contraband items worth N228, 906, 100.
It was gathered that the suspects were arrested between January and April 2015 by the NCS, Federal Operations Unit, Ikeja, Lagos State.
According to NCS, items seized include; 8,584 bags of 50 kilogrammes parboiled rice valued at N55m, 86 units of fairly used vehicles valued at N108m and 11,647 cartons of smuggled frozen poultry products valued at N62m.
Others are 189 boxes of general goods such as textile materials, foot wears, vegetable oils, insecticides, wines, assorted soaps and noodles. They were valued at N67m.
While confirming the arrest and seizures, DSC Ejesieme Uche the FOU Public Relations Officer, urged the general public to always give useful information to customs officers that will help in rounding up alleged smugglers.
“The war against smuggling is a herculean task because of the natural tendency of a smuggler to fight back each time their goods are seized. We call on Nigerians to support the NCS through genuine information that will assist us in tracking smugglers and their routes,” Uche affirmed.
