[PHOTOS]: Customs Stops 400 Bags Of Beans From Being Smuggled Out Of Nigeria

Customs to distribute to the public to mitigate food shortage

Truckload of beans being smuggled out of Nigeria and into neighboring countries is intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service.

Approximately 400 bags of beans that were being stored close to the Seme Border in preparation for an unauthorized export from the nation have been confiscated by the Nigeria Customs Service.

Agents of the Seme Area Command of Customs conducted a raid and found the bags of beans. According to the Command, the Duty Paid Value (DPV) of the contraband and other illegal goods found during the operation exceeded N365 million.

The operations were carried out by the Service's operatives between January and February of 2024, the agency revealed in a statement on Wednesday.

The Seme Border Customs Area Controller (CAC) Comptroller Timi Bomodi highlighted the anti-smuggling efforts from January to February 2024, stating that their agents reported 168 interventions that led to the seizure of 2,193 bags of foreign parboiled rice and 81,930 liters of petrol motor spirit.

Other items confiscated include “nine vehicles, 1,425 general merchandise, 265 parcels of cannabis sativa, and other narcotics, 149 packages of codeine, and two locally manufactured guns, with a combined DPV of N365,888,696.00.”

According to the Customs Service, 400 bags of beans totaling N61.4 million were seized by the Command during a recent interception.

“In light of our present economic realities and the reported massive food shortages nationwide, and in line with the directive to prevent illegal grain export, the Command seized a truckload of beans, totalling 400 bags with a DPV of N61,450,000.00, stockpiled in a warehouse at one of the exit corridors at the border,” the Customs said.

The item has been placed in the government warehouse for safekeeping and potential public sale, according to Bomodi.

According to the Service, 13 suspects were detained during the period under review; six of them were given administrative bail, three were turned over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), one was given to the Nigeria Police, and three were kept under custody.

Regarding revenue generation, the CAC revealed that the Command aims to generate N7.875 billion annually, a 400% rise from 2023.

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