Barely two days after he assumed duty as the new Controller of Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’ Owerri, Comptroller Mohammed UbaGarba has recorded a seizure of a DAF Truck loaded with 11,315 cartons of imported frozen poultry products with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of #108,624,000.00 (one hundred and eight million, six hundred and twenty four thousand naira)
The vehicle with registration number LND 641 XM was impounded on the Benin axis on Monday, the 31st of October 2016 with two suspects arrested in connection with the illicit deal, who are now helping the Customs in its further investigations.
According to the Area Controller, the truck was conveying the contraband good by the novelty simply known as false bottom method concealment, which was criminally fashioned by die-hard smugglers to beat the ever-vigilance men of the Nigeria Customs Service.
The seized truck, he said was cleverly partitioned with wood, bolted and knotted as a strategy to avoid being detected by the Customs officials.
Shedding more light on the seizure made, Compt. Mohammed said that the inner layer of the partitioned truck was stockpiled with the contraband goods while the outer layer of the partitions was left to be empty as to divert the attention of the officers.
The Customs Area Controller who condemned the continued indulgence in smuggling by some Nigerians despite the obvious consequences, warned those still engrossed in the illicit business to purge themselves of this unpatriotic act or be prepared to face the full weight of the law.
He insisted that the poultry product remains a prohibited good because of its unhygienic preservative methods, which is injurious to both the human health and the economy of the nation.
He stressed that the NCS is now better equipped and mobilized to meet its challenges. This he said is in line with the mandate of the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Colonel Hameed Ibrahim Ali (Rtd.) and his team of management that the institution was poised to eliminate all trace of smuggling in the country.
Compt. Mohammed therefore implored members of the public with useful information about smugglers, their agents and collaborators to make them available to the NCS or its sister organizations such as NDLEA, NAFDAC, Police or SON for necessary action. He said that the identity of such informers would be handled with utmost confidentiality.
