The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Area Command, has intercepted 1,306 sacks of expired and decomposing noodles, 3,300 cartridges of explosive materials and consignments of illicit drugs in a series of anti-smuggling operations along the Nigeria-Benin border.
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Abdullahi Shuaibu Kaila, disclosed this at a press briefing at the Seme Border, where he displayed the seized items.
He said the seizures had a combined Duty Paid Value of N365.16 million.
Kaila said the expired noodles, weighing 50kg per sack, were concealed in a truck falsely declared to be carrying food items.
According to him, the noodles had deteriorated and begun decomposing, while intelligence indicated that the smugglers planned to repackage and relabel them for sale to unsuspecting consumers.
“Had this shipment succeeded, countless families would have been exposed to serious health hazards ranging from food poisoning and gastrointestinal diseases to other life-threatening medical complications,” he said.
The controller also disclosed that customs officers intercepted 3,300 cartridges of explosive materials being illegally transported through the border corridor.
He warned that the explosives could have been used by criminal groups to facilitate terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other violent crimes if they had reached their intended destinations.
Kaila said the explosives and one suspect had been handed over to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit of the Nigeria Police Force for safe custody and further investigation.
The command also seized 1,268 bags of foreign parboiled rice, each weighing 50kg, after the consignment was smuggled into the country through illegal routes.
Kaila said the illegal rice imports deprived the government of revenue and undermined agricultural policies designed to promote domestic production.
He added that the activities also threatened the livelihoods of Nigerian farmers by exposing locally produced rice to unfair competition.
In its efforts to curb the trafficking of illicit drugs and harmful substances, the command seized 373 parcels of Cannabis sativa, 90 packs of Tramaking 250mg, 69 packs of Royal Tapentadol 250mg and 310,000 sticks of Time/Yes cigarettes.
Kaila said the seizures had disrupted criminal supply chains and prevented potentially harmful substances from reaching communities.
“These are not ordinary commodities. They are dangerous products capable of destroying lives, fuelling criminality, encouraging substance abuse and undermining the future of our young people,” he said.
Other items seized by the command included a used speedboat, a used water bike, a 2017 Toyota Land Cruiser, a 2016 Toyota RAV4 and a 2010 Nissan Versa.
The Customs Service said the seizures formed part of its continued efforts to curb smuggling and prevent dangerous and prohibited goods from entering Nigeria through the Seme border corridor.
