The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Friday said it had intercepted N4.1 billion worth of hard drugs imported from Canada and India at the Tin Can Island seaport in one month.
Speaking to journalists in Lagos, the Inspector General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, in this regard, said ongoing collaborative efforts between the NCS and the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have consistently yielded positive results.
He said the synergy in collaboration between the NCS and its partner agencies was an example of the effectiveness of sharing resources and intelligence, highlighting the efforts of government agencies in securing the country’s borders and protecting its citizens from the dangers of smuggling.
“In light of this, NCS is pleased to provide an update on the further seizure of two containers of harmful imported goods. These include a 1 x 40 ft container containing controlled unregistered medicines and another 1 x 40 ft container containing illegal psychotropic substances seized by the military’s Tin Can Command.
“Details of the seized containers are as follows; Three plastic drums concealing several packets of cannabis indica, 46 bags containing 2,144 packets of cannabis indica with a total weight of 1,072 kilograms (kg) were seized from 1 x 40 ft container No.GAOU 669921/5 imported from Canada.
The street value of the illegal drugs is about 3.216 billion naira. “Also, 877 cartons (200 bottles of 100ml per carton) of Barkadine cough syrup with codeine and 82 cartons (600 packs per carton) of Really Extra Diclofenac Sodium tablets 50mg imported from India were seized. The street value of the cough syrup is about N964,339,000.00.
According to him, the abuse and misuse of drugs especially Cannabis Indica and Codeine pose a serious threat to our society, he added, adding that codeine, a banned drug, is widely abused in Nigeria with devastating effects on the youth of the country.
