Lagos — The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Thursday said it intercepted another 554 cartons of tramadol, 989 cartons of unregistered pharmaceutical products and other prohibited items at Apapa port.
The aforementioned seizures with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N223.2 million were traced from Indian to port of Lome, Togo before it was finally shipped to Apapa port where it was seized.
Showcasing the seizures to newsmen, the Controller of the Command,
Comptroller Malanta Yusuf, said acting on the manifest, the command was able to track and intercept a container No: SEGU manifested as ceramic tiles.
Upon a 100 per cent physical examination to ascertain its true contents, he said it was found to contain 554 cartons of tramadol capsules (120 milligrams) concealed with 1000 cartons of ceramic tiles.
“Furthermore, with the support of my management team, we are able to make the following intervention, one 40ft container loaded with sacks of mosquito coil products but falsely declared as ground paper and
packaging paper bag, seven containers loaded with bales of used clothing and shoes and one container of unregistered pharmaceutical product (989) cartons of mixagrip tabs wrongfully declared as Winches and gaskets,” he said.
According to him, it is worthy to state that the consignments are rightfully seized for breaching the provisions of sections 46, 47 and 161 of CEMA CAP C45 LFN 2004 (17) of the Common External.
He said based on the foregoing, the Command has launched a preliminary investigation with a view to identifying the consignee’s for arrest and possible prosecution in connection with this criminal and unlawful importation.
He assured members of the business community that the Command would increase sensitisation, enlightenment and robust stakeholders’ engagement for seamless operations, with a view to educate the public on the harmful and destructive nature of these illegal imports.
He said the command under his watch would not tolerate such kind of unlawful behavior from any importer or declarant.