Customs Uncovers N43.59bn High-Risk Cargo, Seizes 7.6 Tonnes Cannabis, 169,998 Codeine Bottles
Kathy Kyari
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has uncovered high-risk consignments valued at ₦43.59 billion at the Apapa Area Command, including more than 7.6 tonnes of cannabis, nearly 170,000 bottles of codeine syrup, 108 drones and five containers of expired products.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, who disclosed this at a press briefing in Lagos, said the seizures demonstrated the growing sophistication of smuggling networks and the need for intelligence-led cargo profiling to prevent dangerous goods from entering the country.
According to him, the seizures underscored the Service's expanding role in protecting Nigeria's supply chain and national security beyond revenue collection.
“The Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023 charges this Service with more than the collection of revenue. It places on us the security of the supply chain, the protection of the border and the safety of what enters this country,” he said.
“The other part is measured in what never reaches the street, and it is that part I am reporting today.”
The CGC explained that criminal syndicates were increasingly concealing prohibited goods within seemingly legitimate consignments, making intelligence-driven profiling and targeted examination critical to intercepting them.
“What has changed in recent years is the method. Concealment is now built into otherwise legitimate consignments,” Adeniyi said.
“Narcotics are packed among vehicle spare parts and used vehicles. Controlled drugs travel beneath household goods. Restricted equipment is declared as ordinary electronics.”
He said the Service had strengthened cargo profiling and risk assessment across its commands and deployed the B’Odogwu platform to integrate trade data into the process.
He also disclosed that the establishment of an INTERPOL Data Centre at the NCS Headquarters in Abuja had provided Customs officers access to more than 152 international databases, while operational collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), NAFDAC, the Office of the National Security Adviser and international security partners had been deepened.
Giving details of the seizures, Adeniyi said the three cannabis containers contained a combined 15,245 parcels weighing 7,624kg, or more than 7.5 tonnes.
One 40-foot container contained 4,777 parcels of cannabis sativa weighing 2,388.5kg, concealed alongside automobile spare parts, food items and three vehicles. Another 40-foot container contained 8,287 parcels weighing 4,145kg, also alongside three vehicles.
A third, a 20-foot container, contained 2,181 parcels weighing 1,090.5kg, concealed with foreign parboiled rice, automobile spare parts, lithium batteries, turmeric, mangala fish and butterfly fish.
Adeniyi said the cannabis interceptions resulted from inter-agency cooperation with the NDLEA and intelligence supplied by international security partners.
“That intelligence was analysed and acted upon here, through cargo profiling, documentary scrutiny and targeted examination by officers of this Service,” he said.
The Customs boss also raised concern over the interception of 1,700 cartons containing 169,998 bottles of codeine syrup, which he said had been concealed under household items.
“The abuse of prohibited substances like codeine among young Nigerians has been the subject of national concern for years, and its connection to violent conduct, to family breakdown and to the loss of productive lives is well documented,” Adeniyi said.
“A single container of this size would have supplied that trade for a considerable period.”
The Service also intercepted 108 high-definition dual-camera drones, which Adeniyi described as security-sensitive equipment requiring appropriate approvals and documentation.
While acknowledging the lawful uses of drones, he warned that the equipment could be exploited for surveillance, reconnaissance and delivery in the wrong hands.
“Let me be plain with importers. Restricted and security sensitive equipment requires the appropriate security approvals, end-user certificates and documentation before clearance,” he said.
“Consignments of that character that arrive without them will be detained.”
“Our ports will not be a route through which capability reaches those who are working against the security of this country.”
In another major aspect of the operation, Customs intercepted 1,282 bales of used clothing across three containers.
The Service also seized five containers loaded with expired products, including tomato ketchup, antiseptic liquid, vaginal tablets and disposable nappies.
Adeniyi said the expired products posed a direct risk to consumers, particularly because some were intended for consumption or application to the body.
“These are products applied to the body and consumed by households. Their importation after expiry places children, women and other consumers at risk of harm they have no means of detecting at the point of purchase,” he said.
The CGC said the seized items would be handed over to relevant agencies for further action, while assuring legitimate traders that Customs would continue to facilitate the movement of compliant cargo.
“Scrutiny will fall on the consignments, transactions and operators that present identifiable risk,” he said.
“To those engaged in false declaration, concealment, undervaluation or the importation of prohibited goods, the position is straightforward: no port, border station or logistics channel will be permitted to serve as a safe haven.”
He urged importers and other stakeholders to embrace compliance, noting that the Service's Advance Ruling mechanism could help traders obtain guidance on classification, valuation and origin before their consignments arrive.
He also encouraged compliant operators to participate in the Authorised Economic Operator programme, which provides more predictable clearance and fewer interventions where risk assessments justify it.
“Compliance is not an obstacle to business; it is an advantage over competitors who lack it,” Adeniyi said.
He commended officers of the Apapa Area Command for their vigilance and professionalism, as well as the NDLEA, NAFDAC and international partners for their cooperation.
“Our ports must serve lawful commerce, industrial growth and the prosperity of this country. They must not serve as transit points for narcotics, for controlled drugs, for equipment that threatens our security, or for goods that endanger the health of Nigerians,” he said.
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