Customs confiscates contraband worth N164.8m in Kebbi

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Kebbi Area Command has seized contraband worth N164.8 million in the state. Dr Ben Oramalugo, the Area Controller of NCS in the state, said this at a press conference on the achievements of the command on Saturday in Birnin Kebbi. He said, “We directed our officers to intensify surveillance in all the nooks and crannies of the state, having had credible intelligence on the impending activities of smugglers. “The following items were, therefore, seized during the period; 371 parcels of cannabis sativa, otherwise called Indian hemp, intercepted at Kawara water side, in Suru Local Government Area. “We also seized 98 packs of diazepam,10 sacks of snuff, 1,080 pieces of donkey skin, 37 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 300 litres of PMS, 16 bales of secondhand clothing and used Toyota Corolla as means of conveyance, among others.” The area comptroller pegged the duty paid value of the seized items at N164.8 million. On illegal drugs, he said the command had handed over cannabis sativa and hard drugs worth N94.8 million to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). “The seizure of such drugs is in line with the vow we made and our determination to rid the state of drug inflow and all items capable of causing harm to Nigerians,” he said. Alhaji Sulaiman Usman, the NDLEA Commander who received the drugs, thanked the NCS for its efforts in curtailing the menace of illegal importation of drugs and anti-smuggling activities in the state. “This is in line with the untiring effort and drive of our Chief Executive Officer/Chairman of NDLEA, Buba Marwa, in combatting the menace of drug abuse and smuggling in the country,” he said. He also condoled the command over the killing of two of its personnel on Aug. 24, by suspected bandits. Also, Alhaji Abdul-Razak Bashir, the state Commandant of Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service, who received the seized donkey skin, lauded the customs for their sustained fight against smuggling of endangered species. 

NDLEA intercepts fake $20m on Lokoja-Abuja Highway

A ‘Stop-and-Search’ operation by operatives of the NDLEA on the Lokoja-Abaji (FCT) Highway has yielded 20 million counterfeit dollars. Spokesman of the NDLEA stated on Sunday in Abuja that the fake currencies were recovered from a bus travelling from Lagos and heading to Abuja. He stated that the 53-year-old driver of the vehicle, Onyebuchi Nlededin, was arrested. Babafemi stated also that one Jude Ndubuisi (52) was arrested in a raid on Aug. 17 while in possession of 2.2kg of methamphetamine at Kabusa village, FCT. He added that the suspect was earlier arrested on July 7, 2022 for being in possession of 20.75kg of Indian hemp and that he was on court bail when he was nabbed for yet another drug crime. “Another raid on two notorious drug joints in the FCT – “Dei-Dei’’ and Tora-Bora Hills, led to the recovery of 82.8kg skunk, 1.8kg Rohypnol and 1.2kg diazepam on Wednesday, Aug. 16. “In Osun, NDLEA operatives destroyed clusters of Indian hemp plantations measuring about 3.5 hectares (more than 7.5 tons) at Mopatedo in Ifedayo Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, Aug. 19 “Two suspects – Sunday Otogbo (40), and Peter Makra (35), were arrested inside the Indian hemp farms. “An additional 30kg of Indian hemp and 16.9kg of Indian hemp seeds were also recovered from the farms,’’ he stated. Babafemi added that three other suspects – Ndubuisi Okorie (44), Ebilima Emmanuel (38), and Okechukwu Smart (40), were arrested on Aug. 19 in connection with 168kg of Indian hemp seized from them. The suspects were arrested when their vehicle was intercepted on the Owerri-Onitsha Expressway, he stated. “A shipment of 6,000 capsules of tramadol, 1,200 tablets of `swinol’, 155 bottles of codeine syrup and 20 tablets s of Molly was equally seized on the same road on Sunday Aug. 13. “A follow-up operation at Oyigbo area of Port Harcourt, led to the arrest of the owner of the consignment, Remigius Ogechukwu (33),’’ Babafemi added. He stated also that a teenager, Boniface Odinakachukwu (19), was arrested with 99.4kg skunk at Isikwe Road, Achi in Oji-River Local Government Area of Enugu State on Friday, Aug. 18. The NDLEA spokesman added that a wanted 19-year-old bandit, Aliyu Mohammed Altine, was arrested by NDLEA operatives on Illela-Sokoto Road with some wraps of skunk on Thursday, Aug. 17. Altine was on the wanted list of the police and has since been handed over to the police in Sokoto State for further investigation, Babafemi stated.