Ten 40 Feet Containers Of Tramadol Seized By Customs

LUCKY LAWAL  

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced the seizure of ten 40 feet containers of an opioid pain medication used to treat moderate to moderately severe pain known as Tramadol, valued at N7.32 billion imported mostly from India through the Apapa Port in Lagos.

The drugs which had a duty paid value of about N7.31 billion were impounded through intelligence gathering and collaboration with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

This came barely one week after the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted 340 million tablets of the same Tramadol imported in 12 containers through the same port.

The drugs seized by the NDLEA came in various dosages ranging from 120 to 250 milligrams.

Speaking in Apapa, the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali (Rtd.) also displayed N150 million in cash which he said was bribe money rejected by men of the Service who made the seizures.

The cash came as US$412,000 with US$ 274,000 (about N100million) offered to men of the Apapa Port Command and another US$138,000 (about N50m) offered to men of the Service’s Federal Operations Unit (FOU).

The Customs also announced seizures of two aircrafts at the same Apapa port. The aircrafts, a helicopter with registration number 5N BLI was bound for export through container number PONU7789246 while the Cessna 182 A airplane came into the port from the United States in container number MRKU 4457663.

The helicopter was falsely declared as 388 bags of cashew nuts while the Cessna aircraft was seized for non-compliance with extant rules on certification and approvals.
According to the Comptroller General, “while the seizures of dangerous drugs and aircrafts demonstrate NCS contributions to national economic and security wellbeing, the rejection of N150 million bribes presents a picture of a reformed NCS whose operatives are increasingly putting national interest above selves”.