The Adamawa/Taraba Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Services has seized contraband goods worth N79,857,500 on Duty Paid Value (DPV) in the past five weeks .
The Area Comptroller, Aminu Tako disclosed this Friday while briefing Journalists at Customs House, Yola.
Comptroller Aminu Tako said that the command’s decisive actions and operational successes in combating smuggling and unlawful trade practices along our border corridors is based on actionable intelligence.
He summarized the seizures intercepted to include; 673 Jerry cans of PMS translated to 16,825 litres, 501 cartons of foreign bar soaps, 266 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 11 bales of and 5 jumbo sacks of second hand clothing and 1 Mitsubishi canter bus, used for the conveyance of the contraband goods.
While appreciating the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi and the management team for consistently providing the requisite resources and logistical support essentially for seamless operations.
He however warned border communities within Adamawa, Taraba States and across the country against collaborating with smuggling cartels, describing the activity as economic sabotage.
According to him, the command also pledged to strengthen cooperation with sister security agencies to curb smuggling within and across Nigeria’s borders.
He said the service was intensifying its efforts to confront smugglers and prevent the illegal movement of petroleum products out of the country.
The Nigeria Customs has been recording huge successes in its anti-smuggling drive, but the defiant smugglers would not want to give up their nefarious activities. It is on this note that new and harder strategies are to be adopted to face the challenges squarely,” he said.
Aminu Tako said border communities played significant roles in identifying and checking smuggling activities, noting that smugglers often operated from communities along the borders.
He appreciated the Press for continued support in enlightening the populace on the severe repercussions of smuggling on the national economy and security.
