Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, announcement of an astounding seizure of over N10 billion worth of arms cache, drugs and other contrabands in one fell swoop in collaborating with other agencies at Lagos Port Complex, LPC, is great feat.
Comptroller-General of the NCS, Alhaji Adewale Adeniyi, while announcing the feat in Lagos recently said the seizures followed intelligence-led operations and joint inspections with security agencies.
The recovered Adeniyi said items include two pump-action rifles, 25 rounds of ammunition, and 202 cans of Colorado Loud, a Canadian strain of cannabis, concealed in a 40-foot container numbered MRSU6407089.
Each can of the Colorado loud weighed 500 grams, amounting to 101 kg — about the weight of two bags of cement.
Curiously, the consignments consigned to one a Lagos resident were initially cleared, but a secondary search revealed the contraband.
Further inspections uncovered a Smith & Wesson Pistol with 55 rounds, seven containers of expired drugs, three containers of expired margarine, and three containers of prohibited used clothing.
NCS operatives also seized two 40-foot containers loaded with 1,290 sacks of frozen poultry products each and one container ,ZZSU7277511, with 305 cartons of counterfeit toothpaste concealed with beads and Robe dresses.
Besides, two containers of expired chest and lung tablets without the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, approval and two 40-foot containers of codeine-based products linked to the same network behind earlier seizures were also confiscated in the process.
It is laudable that the NCS has strengthened the use of technology, intelligence, and inter-agency collaboration to combat smuggling.
Perhaps to inspire public confidence in its avowed renewed onslaught against smugglers, the NCS immediately officially handed over 1,599 assorted arms and 2,298 live cartridges, seized during operations in 2024, to the National Centre for Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, NCCSALW. The handover ceremony thus marked a significant step in the country’s ongoing efforts to curb the proliferation of illicit arms.
In view of rising insecurity in and the spread of illegal arms across the country, these seizures could not have come at a better time.
It is commendable that the Service is geared up to rid the country of deadly consignments.
It is commendable that 11 suspects connected to the arms trafficking network were promptly handed over for further investigation and prosecution.
Sequel to the sophisticated investigative techniques employed, including forensic analysis of shipping records and collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the illicit shipments were traced to a Turkish company for which legal procedures we learnt are being pursued through the Office of the Attorney General.
We commend the NCS for the landmark onslaught which culminated in the handover of the seizures including 1,599 arms and 2,298 live cartridges. It is no doubt a significant drive against the nation’s recurring insecurity challenges.
In the light of the Service achievements President Bola Tinubu deserves commendations for extending CG Adeniyi’s tenure for one year as well as call on other sister agencies to sustain their collaboration with the NCS with a view to recording more wins.
