Customs intercepts 144 smuggling attempts, seizes N3.3bn worth of contraband in South-West

The Federal Operations Unit (FOU), Zone ‘A’ of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Ikeja, has intercepted 144 smuggling attempts and seized contraband valued at N3.32 billion within five weeks of coordinated enforcement operations across the South-West.

The Comptroller of the Unit, Gambo Aliyu, disclosed this during his maiden press briefing at the FOU headquarters in Lagos, his first media engagement since assuming office.

Aliyu said the seizures were the result of intelligence-led operations and a strategic reorganisation of patrols and deployments aimed at dismantling supply chains used by smuggling networks operating in Lagos and surrounding coastal areas.

Items intercepted include 6,954 bags of foreign parboiled rice equivalent to 12 trailer loads, 77 bags of foreign sugar, 21 used vehicles, 3,362 jerrycans of foreign vegetable oil (25 litres each), 20,700 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), 915 bales of used clothing, and a 20-foot container loaded with 20 pallets of stone-coated aluminium roofing sheets.

The unit also recorded a major breakthrough in the fight against drug trafficking with the seizure of 3,029 parcels of a synthetic strain of cannabis indica, popularly known as “Ghanaian Loud,” weighing about 1,431 kilograms and valued at an estimated N605.8 million.

Aliyu said the operations formed part of an intensified crackdown on criminal syndicates along the South-West corridor, aimed at disrupting the link between drug trafficking and crimes such as banditry and terrorism.

“For us, cutting off the supply of drugs also reduces criminality. These substances embolden perpetrators. Protecting the health and safety of Nigerians remains our priority,” he said.

In a related development, the unit intercepted four live pangolins along the waterways of Alapa Creek, Ajilete, which were handed over to the Wildlife Conservation Centre in line with wildlife protection laws.

Customs also seized 581 used refrigerator compressors concealed in a vehicle, noting that their importation contravenes provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, and the Basel Convention on the trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste.

Meanwhile, the Commander of Narcotics, NDLEA Lagos Strategic Command, Mohammed Kabir, received the seized cannabis consignment and commended Customs for its collaboration and vigilance.

Kabir noted that a similar handover took place on December 24, 2025, when Customs transferred a female suspect with 91 parcels of the same substance, adding that prosecution in that case is ongoing.