250 live turtles, military equipment, and other illegal items valued at N3.32 billion were seized, according to the Nigeria Customs Service’s Murtala Muhammed Airport Command.
This was revealed by Michael Awe, the command’s Customs Area Controller in charge, during a press conference on Wednesday at the command headquarters.
The intercepted contraband, he continued, entered the country between July and October via Canada Turkiye, among other places.
Awe claimed that certain of the existing laws, as outlined in the Nigeria Customs Service Act (NCS Act) 2023, were broken by the confiscated goods.
Between July and October 2024, the total duty paid worth of the seized goods was N3.32 billion, demonstrating the outstanding achievements of efforts to curb illicit trade. Ten packs of cannabis sativa, 250 live turtles, 175 military helmets, 50 drones, and 23 walkie-talkies are among these things, according to Awe.
Other items confiscated, he said, included 0.2 kg of porcupine pins, 1.5 kg of pangolin scales, and seven packages containing 200 mg and 225 mg of tramadol hydrochloride.
Additionally, he reported that the command’s revenue came to N144.2 billion, a 94% increase over the N74 billion earned during the same time period in 2023.
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“Duties and other charges brought in N144.2 billion for the command between January and October 2024. “There is a progressive difference of N69.9 billion, showing a 94% increase, when you compare the figure to N74 billion collected in 2023,” he said.
Awe credited the revenue creation to “strategic resource deployment, interagency collaboration, efficient cargo clearance, and intelligent risk management strategies,” as well as to increased stakeholder compliance, enhanced trade facilitation, and effective law enforcement.
He underlined that the command has established programs such expedited clearing processes and improved cargo inspection and examination in an effort to increase tax collection, support lawful trade, and reduce smuggling….
Better intelligence collection and sharing, cooperation with other security agencies, and frequent stakeholder engagements were also guaranteed by the command, he noted.
Awe gave everyone the assurance that going forward, the command would improve stakeholder engagement, enhance trade facilitation measures, bolster anti-smuggling activities, and use technology to run operations more efficiently.
