The Ogun 1 Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service announced that, in the first quarter of 2023, it seized 21 trailer‑loads of foreign parboiled rice. During a press briefing at the NCS headquarters in Abeokuta, Controller Bamidele Makinde also reported the interception of 1,375 wraps of bread and coconut sizes, as well as 107 sacks of cannabis sativa valued at over N98 million across various parts of the state. The seized cannabis will be handed over to the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency.
Makinde detailed the rice seizure, noting that operatives recovered 740 bags of 25 kg Chinese rice stored in a warehouse in Sagamu. In total, the command recorded 181 seized items, including 12,610 bags of smuggled rice (both 50 kg and 25 kg), equivalent to the 21 trailer‑loads. He cautioned Nigerians to avoid consuming products that could jeopardize their health.
Other notable seizures during the first three months of 2023 included 1,144 cartons of imported cigarettes labeled in Chinese, 77,250 litres of petrol, 29 used vehicles used for smuggling, 29 artefacts, 73 bales of second‑hand clothing, 14 sacks of foreign used shoes, 900 foreign used tyres, 1,120 frozen poultry products, 240 body creams, and 1,382 wraps of cannabis sativa. The Duty Payable Value (DPV) of the seized items amounted to N704,482,601, a 61 percent increase over the N432,337,690 DPV recorded in the same period of 2022.
Revenue generated by the command from January to March 2023 reached N44,857,053.50, derived from duties on merchandise in baggage, auction sales of scrap vehicles, and petroleum products. This figure far exceeds the N5,512,901.50 collected in the corresponding period of 2022. Makinde emphasized that the command’s revenue activities also encompass the import and export of legitimate goods under the ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme and the assessment of baggage merchandise. He affirmed that the command is working hard to promote export business to bolster the country’s foreign‑exchange earnings.
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