TRAMADOL, CANNABIS SATIVA & OTHER DANGEROUS GOODS WORTH N735.9 MILLION INTERCEPTED BY COMPT UGBAGU IN OWERRI
No less than N735.9 million seizures were made by the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) zone ‘C’ Owerri in the last two months.
The Unit’s helmsman, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu announced to journalists today in a press briefing that 3,264 seizures were recorded in the period under consideration.
These are remarkable giant strides in the Unit’s anti-smuggling measures, according to the Controller.
The Federal operations unit of the Nigeria Customs Service under the leadership of Comptroller Michael Ugbagu has made remarkable giants strides in its anti-smuggling measures. This led to the interception of contraband goods with duty paid value (DPV) of Seven hundred and thirty-five million, nine hundred and seventy-two thousand (735,972,000) within the period under review. The Controller disclosed this during the press briefing at the command’s headquarters in owerri today the 26th of February 2025.
As a result of the anti-smuggling measures put in place within our zone which is one of the core mandates of Nigeria Customs Service, the unit intercepted Three thousand, two hundred and sixty four thousand (3,264) contraband goods worth Seven hundred and thirty-five million, nine hundred and seventy-two thousand (735,972,000). The aforementioned duty paid value was gotten from all the seized goods namely: 490(CTNs) PIGEON GEISHA, 272 BALES OF USED CLOTHING, 13 BALES OF USED SHOES, 11 BALES OF USED BAGS, 750 WRAPS OF CANNABIS SATIVA, 1,230 SACHETS OF TRAMADOL, 289 PACKS OF TRAMADOL CAPSULES AND 209 PCS OF USED TYRES. These seizures were made from different axis of the unit’s jurisdiction. Furthermore, as part of our revenue recovery a total of Eight Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty Nine Thousand One hundred and Fifty One Naira Only (8,859,151) was generated from Demand Notice (DN).
While displaying the seized Contraband items, Comptroller Micheal Ugbagu stated that the unit has made numerous and tremendous success in line with the core mandate of the service which includes; Blockage of all revenue leakages, Trade facilitation and suppression of smuggling to its minimal level through anti-smuggling activities at different entry points within the country at large. The entry points which are Land borders, Airports, Seaports are areas of uttermost importance to the unit in carrying out its operations and statutory functions. He encored the unit success on professionalism, focus and decision to curb smuggling activities in the entire zone. He also stated that the unit has never relented in its intelligence gathering, Inter-agency collaboration and surveillance.
Comptroller Michael Ugbagu laid emphasis on the significance of some major Seizures such as
1. Used clothing: The importation of used cloths is prohibited due to its negative impact on our local textile industries, it can also affect job opportunities for well- meaning Nigerians.
2. Tramadol: Tramadol can cause Drowsiness, Headaches, Nausea/vomiting, Low blood pressure, Anxiety and Confusion. All these Negative effects of tramadol as mentioned can affect the well-being of individuals. In our purposeful inter-agency collaboration, the seized Cannabis Sativa and the tramadol will be handed over to relevant government agencies for necessary actions.
He applauded the ongoing initiative and leadership style of the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR in Consolidating, Collaborating and recent innovations which has brought a lot of positive impact to the service and Nigerians at large.
He reinstated that the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service and the entire management team deserves accolades for giving the unit a level playing ground by providing the necessary logistics and incentives that motivated the performance of the unit.
Finally, he stated that this is a wakeup call to the general public to join hands with the Service in its Anti-Smuggling stride as this will boost the nation’s economy.
The drugs were handed to officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the spirit of agency collaboration.