In furtherance of its operational strategies to reduce the rate of contrabands importation in its domain, the Onne Customs Command has intercepted 21 containers laden with illicit drugs and donkey skin, valued at N46.8 billion.
The Command Comptroller, Mohammed Babandede, who disclosure during an interactive session with journalists, listed the seized items as 20 containers of illicit drugs, including 2.6 million bottles of codeine syrup; 7.5 million tablets of Really Extra Diclofenac; 3.5 million tablets of Trodol Benzhexol; 27 million tablets of Royal Tapentadol/Tramadol/Tamolx; and other counterfeit and unregistered pharmaceuticals.
In addition, he confirmed that 1 container of donkey skin, valued at N441 million, was also impounded the operations.
According to him, the feat could be partly attributed to the three-month state of emergency declared by the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, following previous significant seizures at the Onne Port.
Available data on the Command’s anti-smuggling operations showed that it had made significant strides with 63 containers seized so far this year, containing 844 rifles, 112,500 pieces of live ammunition; over 6.4 million bottles of codeine syrup; and over 56.8 million tablets of Royal Tapentadol/Tramadol/Tamolx with total duty paid value of seizures totalling N130.5 billion.
The operations data also indicated that the Command had done well in trade facilitation, utilizing the World Customs Organization’s Time Release Study (TRS) tool to generate maximum revenue.
Some of the highlights include the processing 2.4 million metric tons of goods, valued at $826.6 million, and generating N550.4 billion in revenue, representing 89% of the annual target.
The Comptroller thanked other securities agencies collaboration with the Command, and the media for sensitizing the public and promoting compliance with trade laws.
