The Tincan Island Command, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has impounded 56.39kg of cocaine and 955kg of Colorado Indica (marijuana). They are worth N4.3 billion.
The hard drugs were smuggled from South Africa and Canada.
The Comptroller General of Customs, CAC, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this in a media conference on Thursday in Lagos. He said that the seized cocaine was worth N2.4 billion, while the marijuana was valued at N1.9 billion.
Furthermore, he said, the Command intercepted five pistols, 445 rounds of live ammunition and several empty pistol magazines.
Adeniyi listed the seized items as 65 packets of Colarado Indica, weighing 32.5kg seized from 1X40FT container No. UACU 534833/6 imported from Canada.
According to him, “Others are 17 packets weighing 16.690kg confirmed to be cocaine, 151 packets Colarado Indica weighing 107 kg. Also, one piece Gen2 Air soft pistol with serial No. 471908, empty magazine, 49 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition and 197 rounds of 9mm live ammunition.
“Also recovered were precursor chemicals for the manufacture of crystal methamphetamine, eight bags weighing 25kg tartaric acid, 100 kegs of unspecified substances seized from 1x40ft Container No. MSCU 458177/0 imported from Durban South Africa.
“40 packets weighing 39.7kg confirmed to be Cocaine, 1,026 packets weighing 688.2kg confirmed to be Colarado Indica. Two pistols without serial numbers, one pistol with SerialNo. AZYSRA6YSO12101181, three empty magazines, 275 rounds of 5.5mm M16 Tavor live ammunition.
“Six rounds of 9mm blank ammunition seized from in 1x40ft container No. THRU 796807/1 and imported from Durban South Africa.
“226 packets weighing 128kg confirmed to be Cannabis Indica seized from 1x40ft Container No.MEDU 785276/3 imported from Durban South Africa,” the Custom boss said.
NDLEA
Adeniyi said cooperation with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, proved effective in pooling resources and intelligence.
Earlier, the Director-General of NDLEA, Buba Maruwa, said the interception speaks volumes about the hard work and diligence of security agencies.
He said this while receiving the seized hard drugs from Customs. Marwa was represented at the event by the spokesperson of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi.
He added that the seizure was a testament that just like the airports, the seaports are also secured.
Marwa said: “The Customs command and other units had diligently tracked the movement of the containers up to the time of their landing in our port.
“In the spirit of inter-agency collaboration, NDLEA never hesitated to share intelligence with the Tincan Island Command of the NCS.
“We also requested that the command ensure the containers were pinned down for 100 percent examination,” he said.