The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced the seizure of 16 containers filled with prohibited and dangerous items, including firearms, ammunition, military gear, and counterfeit drugs, with an estimated street value of ₦10 billion, at the Lagos Port Complex (LPC), Apapa.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed the development in Lagos on Monday, explaining that the interceptions were the result of intelligence-driven operations and coordinated joint inspections conducted in partnership with other security agencies.
According to Adeniyi, one of the most alarming discoveries was a 40-foot container, numbered MRSU6407089, which was initially cleared but later flagged for secondary inspection. Inside, operatives found two pump-action rifles, 25 rounds of ammunition, and 202 cans of Colorado Loud — a potent Canadian strain of cannabis — concealed among other goods. Each can weighed 500 grams, bringing the total weight to 101 kilograms, roughly the equivalent of two bags of cement. The shipment, he revealed, was consigned to one Babatunde Ogidiolu of Lagos.
Further inspections revealed a Smith & Wesson pistol with 55 rounds of ammunition, seven containers of expired pharmaceuticals, three containers of expired margarine, and three containers of prohibited used clothing.
The operation also uncovered:
- Two 40-foot containers carrying 1,290 sacks each of frozen poultry products.
- A container (ZZSU7277511) loaded with 305 cartons of counterfeit toothpaste, hidden among beads and jalabiya dresses.
- Two containers of expired chest and lung tablets without approval from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
- Two 40-foot containers of codeine-based syrup traced to the same smuggling network linked to earlier high-profile drug seizures.
Adeniyi stressed that the operation was part of the Service’s intensified efforts to combat smuggling through enhanced technology, intelligence gathering, and stronger inter-agency collaboration.
“We work on tightropes to ensure no mandate suffers,” the Customs CG said. “The results in the last two years clearly justify our approach in maintaining a healthy balance between enforcement, trade facilitation, and revenue generation.”
He reaffirmed that the NCS remains resolute in its mission to safeguard Nigeria’s borders, protect public health, and curb the inflow of dangerous substances and prohibited goods into the country.
