NCS impounds PMS, rice, soap, others worth over N79.8m in Adamawa

Barely 48 hours after displaying smuggled PMS in Yola, the Adamawa/Taraba Area Command has impounded and displayed premium motor spirit, bar soap and used clothing worth over N79.8 million along the Adamawa border.

The Comptroller, Aminu Tako, disclosed this at a press briefing in Yola today.

He said the command had made the arrests within six weeks based on intelligence reports.

He added that the decisive actions and operational successes of the command’s operatives in combating smuggling and unlawful trade practices along the border corridors resulted in the seizures made within the period under review.

He stressed that the Nigeria Customs Service remained committed to stimulating national economic growth through an aggressive anti-smuggling campaign and improved trade facilitation in line with global best practices.

“Over the past five weeks, our officers, guided by actionable intelligence and continuous tactical surveillance, have executed a series of successful anti-smuggling operations across our Area of Responsibility.

“These targeted interventions resulted in the interception and seizure of the following items:

673 jerry cans of PMS of 25 litres each, totalling 825 litres; 501 cartons of foreign bar soap; 26 bags of foreign parboiled rice, weighing 50kg each; 11 bales and five jumbo sacks of second-hand clothing.

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Other items impounded included a Mitsubishi Canter used to transport the contraband goods.

The aggregate Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the seized items stands at seventy-nine million, eight hundred and fifty-six thousand, five hundred naira (N79,857,500).

The Customs boss noted that the seizures were made in accordance with the NCS Act, 2023, under Sections 150, 233, 245, 246 and 248, as well as Schedule 3 (Import Prohibition List) of the Common External Tariff (CET).

While acknowledging the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, and his management team for providing the resources and logistical support needed for seamless operations, he urged the public to treat security as a collective responsibility by providing timely and credible information about suspicious activities in their communities.