In its fight against the economic saboteurs across the South-Western states of Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Units, Zone A has intercepted 8,794 bags of 50kg rice, 22 used vehicles and some contraband valued at N5.5 billion.
The Area Controller of the unit, Comptroller Gambo Aliyu said on Tuesday that the anti- smuggling unit leveraged on advanced surveillance, intelligence sharing frameworks, and inter-agency collaboration and thwarted 473 smuggling attempts within eight weeks of its operations.
The comptroller noted the numerous seizures occurred across borders in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, and Ondo states, saying that several defendants were arrested in connection with the operations.
Aliyu explained that the unit’s anti- smuggling strategies led to seizures of 1,863 pieces of used refrigerator compressors, 328 bales of used clothes, 1188 kegs of 25 litres vegetable oil, 31, 705 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, 485 pieces used tyres and 69 cartons of foreign Bonita spaghetti, 24 bags 50kg each of foreign sugar and five cartons of ST Louis and 531 cartons of foreign poultry products.
He explained: “In the same vein, the unit reinforced its anti-smuggling strategies to continuously cut supply chain networks in drug trafficking with the launch of an operation code named “Operation Hawk. This is aimed at curbing illicit goods trafficking, safeguarding revenue and protecting our society and environment from incidences of crime, criminalities and pervasive societal vices that threaten national stability.
“Against this backdrop, the unit successfully took out 3,340 parcels of synthetic strain of cannabis indica, ‘Ghanaian loud,’ weighing 1540kg from the society. This effort is an affirmation of our commitment in the fight against drugs smuggling syndicates in the Zone.
“Our analysis of the trend in recent times, indicate that the traffickers are devising different methods to perpetuate illicit trade, therefore, there is the need for critical security stakeholders to upscale their intelligence sharing mechanism to cut the supply chain completely.”
In addition, the comptroller said that leveraging modern technologies for intelligence gathering, the unit had also constituted and effectively coordinated a specialised team responsible for integrating Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) operations, which had been yielding positive and measurable results.
According to him, “in a separate operation, officers and men of the Gbaji outpost acting on credible intelligence at about 0645hrs of Thursday 30th April 2026, intercepted a green coloured Toyota Highlander driven by one Mr. Oni Iredia Martins, a 71year old male Nigerian citizen suspected to convey a Narcotics substance.
“Further examination of the vehicle revealed 6 parcels of cocaine substance, with 2 parcels of the powdered substance Cocaine weighing 2.3kg, and 4 parcels of the Methamphetamine weighing 4.1kg of crack cocaine, all totalling 6.4kg of the illicit substance. The consignment was intercepted at Elijah Bus stop along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor, and has a street value of approximately N2.35 billion.
“In a clear demonstration of inter-agency collaboration, the seized 1,540kg of synthetic strain of cannabis indica, ‘Ghanaian loud’, totalling 3,340 Compressed packages, together with the 6.4kg of Cocaine and Methamphetamine will be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation and prosecution in courts of competent jurisdictions.
“These seizures underscore the operational prowess and strategic effectiveness of our operatives. They also reinforce our unwavering dedication to disrupt smuggling networks and confront economic saboteurs whose actions threaten national security and undermine the fiscal policies of the federal government headlong.”
