Nigeria customs seizes N10bn contraband at Apapa port

• Expired margarine, drugs, and used clothing intercepted alongside arms, ammunition, and cannabis from Canada.
• Counterfeit toothpaste hidden with beads and jalabiya dresses found in seized 40-foot container.

The Nigeria Customs Service, on Monday, said it intercepted 16 containers of prohibited items valued at N10bn at the Lagos Port Complex, Apapa.

The comptroller general of customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the seizures followed intelligence-led operations and joint inspections with other security agencies.

Adeniyi said the items included two pump-action rifles, 25 rounds of ammunition, and 202 cans of Colorado Loud, a Canadian strain of cannabis, hidden in a 40-foot container numbered MRSU6407089.

He explained that each can of cannabis weighed 500 grams, amounting to 101 kilogrammes — about the weight of two cement bags.

The customs boss said the container was initially cleared, but a secondary search uncovered the contraband, adding that it was consigned to one Babatunde Ogidiolu of Lagos.

Further inspections, he said, revealed a Smith & Wesson pistol with 55 rounds, seven containers of expired drugs, three containers of expired margarine, and three containers of prohibited used clothing.

Adeniyi disclosed that two 40-foot containers, each loaded with 1,290 sacks of frozen poultry products, were seized alongside a container with 305 cartons of counterfeit toothpaste concealed with beads and jalabiya dresses.

He added that operatives also confiscated two containers of expired chest and lung tablets without the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control approval.

According to him, two 40-foot containers of codeine-based products linked to a network behind previous seizures were also intercepted over the weekend.

Adeniyi said the service has enhanced the use of technology, intelligence, and inter-agency collaboration in its anti-smuggling operations.

“We work on tightropes to ensure no mandate suffers,” he said.

“The results in the last two years justify our efforts in striking a healthy balance.”