Customs Seizes N1.84b Contraband, Foils PMS Smuggling From Lagos, Ogun To Benin Republic
THECONSCIENCE NG reports that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), in its ongoing anti-smuggling operation, has seized Benin Republic-bound contraband goods and petroleum products destined valued at over N1.84 billion.
The operation, carried out between June 3 and July 18, 2025, across the southwestern states under Zone A, led to the interception of many categories of prohibited imports and the disruption of an illegal fuel export syndicate, with nine suspects arrested in connection to the crime.
The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adeniyi, announced these feats during a briefing at the Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone A headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos .
He stated that the FOU carried out 102 operations during the six-week period, targeting notorious smuggling routes and flashpoints in Lagos, Ogun, and other areas.
Among the items seized were 3,500 bags of foreign parboiled rice (50kg each), equivalent to six trailer loads, 304 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa (Indian hemp), and 7,900 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) packed in 316 jerry cans of 25 litres each.
Also intercepted by the FOU were 54 bags and 20 bales of used clothing, 41 sacks and bags of used footwear, and 14 units of used (tokunbo) vehicles. The list of seizures also included 148 pieces of used tyres, 42 used gas cylinders, 31 air conditioning systems, and 95 cartons of frozen poultry products.
Adeniyi said the unit uncovered many misdeclared containers aimed at evading duty payments, which included a 40-foot container number, TRHU 83907321, fully loaded with used tyres, a 20-foot container number ONEU241369, containing unregistered medicaments, and two 40-foot containers numbers MSKU 4796036 and MAEU 9205708 filled with various contraband items.
Additionally, a container truck conveying used fridges, foreign supermarket items and second-hand clothes was seized.
Adeniyi stated that all the containers were discovered to have been falsely declared to avoid paying the appropriate Customs duties with a total duty paid value (DPV) of all these intercepted items estimated at N1,78 billion.
In a related operation, the Operation Whirlwind team operating under the Customs’ Zone A command, intercepted a large consignment of petroleum products intended for smuggling to Benin Republic.
Adeniyi said, acting on credible intelligence, the team uncovered 1,134 jerry cans of PMS, ranging between 25 to 30 litres each, and 33 drums of fuel, amounting to 35,535 litres, at multiple smuggling flashpoints.
He listed the flashpoints as Ajilete, Ijoun, Ilaro, Badagry, Owode Idiroko, Eree Ado-Odo, and Obada Imeko axes in Lagos and Ogun states.
According to Adeniyi, the petroleum products, concealed in vehicles, were being prepared for illegal export to the Republic of Benin. The Customs operatives seized six vehicles used as means of conveyance, with the duty paid value of the intercepted PMS and vehicles put at N58.3 million.
He said the Customs recovered N95.6 million in unpaid duties from importers and agents who attempted to shortchange the government through under-valuation and incorrect declarations.
Adeniyi said the recoveries were made through the issuance of Demand Notices (DNs) after rigorous document checks and cargo profiling.
