Customs Arrest Four Suspected Smugglers, Generate Over N179m In Katsina 

Four persons have been arrested by officers of the Katsina Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in connection with smuggling activities in the State.

Although the suspects were granted administrative bail pending the conclusion of investigations, the Katsina Customs Area Command attributed the successes recorded within the period under review to the resilience and commitment of the officers and men of the Command working with an effective synergy that is existing among the sister security agencies.

The Customs Comptroller in charge of Katsina State Command Dalha Wada Chedi disclosed this on Tuesday at the Command Headquarters, Katsina during the monthly media briefing of the Command on the performance recorded last month.

Chedi while displaying some of the items seized by the Command within the period under review called on the good people of the State and the business community to take advantage of the reopened Jibia Border to conduct their trans-border business.

He added that the remaining borders are still closed, hence passing or attempting to pass goods are illegal due to the substantive Federal Government policy on Border closure.

“As we step down to the year ending, the Command will continue to draw on our robust intelligence gathering strategy on border security and ensuring a secure environment for legitimate business transactions as well as enhancing our anti-smuggling capabilities in order to intercept the smuggled items that pose a high threat to both the economy and security of the country,” he added.

According to the Customs Comptroller, the Command has within the period under review, collected N179,206,288.33 only.

This, he said, shows an increase of N58 million from the 121,800,478.00 million that was collected in October 2022, representing a 47% increase in the revenue collected.

During the period under review, the Command, he explained,
intercepted smuggled vehicles and means of conveyance such as 239 bags of foreign rice 50kg each with the Duty Paid Value of N7,098,300.00, two bags of foreign rice 25kg each with a DPV of N30,800.00, 821 cartons of foreign spaghetti with a DPV of N4,926,000.00 and 20 cartons of foreign macaroni with the DPV of N120,000.00.

Other items seized include 11 cartons of foreign couscous, 973kg of exhaust fiber catalyst, 12 bags of tiger nuts 100kg each, 25 bales of second-hand clothing, 13 bags of China Green Tea, 65 Jerry cans premium motor spirit 25 litres each, 70 cylinders of liquified petroleum gas 50kg each, two cylinders of liquified petroleum gas 25kg each as well as sacks of children wears.

In the same vein, the Command has seized eleven (11) assorted vehicles with the Grand Duty Paid Value of 119,245,538.00.