The Seme Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service has said that it arrested 15 suspects and intercepted different contrabands with Duty Paid Value of N788.2m last year, the Public Relations Officer, Mr Hussaini Abdullahi, stated on Monday.
Abdullahi explained that the seized items included 7,667 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice, three bags of 50kg sugar, 1,080,875 litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit, 127 vehicles, 1,514 cartons of poultry products, 646 packets of hard drugs, 166 cartons of cannabis sativa and 31,868 general merchandise goods.
“In the same vein, 15 suspects were arrested in connection with different crimes within the period under review and some of them were released on administrative bail, while some are still standing trail,” Abdullahi stated.
The landmark achievement can be attributed to the deliberate policies adopted by the command and supported by the Customs management and appreciated by sister agencies and host communities, he added.
He, however, said that since the closure on land borders, the major revenue for the command had been proceeds of auctioned PMS.
His words, “It is pertinent to note that since the pronouncement of policy on partial border closure by the Federal Government, the command’s major revenue sources have not been active; hence the only source is fees collected from the sale of seized PMS and other perishable items.
“With the recent pronouncement by the government on re-opening of borders, the command is committed to implementing directives of the government on the new operational guidelines to ensure that the revenue base of the command is projected.”
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