By Godfrey Bivbere & Esther Onyegbula

The Comptroller General of Customs Strike Force, Team A, yesterday, said it has impounded India Hemp, Donkey Skin, Timber and other items worth N373.6 million.

This comes as the team said it collected revenue amounting to N648.3 million from Demand Notice, DN, issued in the last four weeks.

The Coordinator of the team, Mohammed Yusuf, who disclosed this during a press briefing said some of the items were smuggled into the country while others were to be exported.

Yusuf said: “We collected the sum of N648.3 million as revenue through DN, as well as made seizures with Duty Paid Value, DPV, of N373.6 million.”

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Giving a breakdown of the seizures, he said they seized three 20 feet containers of timber worth N177.7 million, 1,000 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice worth N43.2 million, 3,143 pieces of tyres worth N75.4 million, and 320 bales of used clothes worth N33.8 million.

Others, he said, are 633 sacks of used shoes worth N37.8 million, 44 sacks of donkey skin worth N2.4 million, and 137.3kg of India Hemp worth N13,043,5000 were sized within the last four weeks.

Reiterating the team’s commitment to executing its task, Yusuf urged importers, licensed Customs agents, and freight forwarders to make sincere declarations all the time. He also charged them to always acquaint themselves and be guided by policies of the Federal Government, as well as being abreast with the import and export prohibition lists.

“We will not take ignorance as an excuse under an excuse,” he noted.
Sternly warning smugglers, he said there will be no hiding place for those wishing to cut corners, who thought they could take advantage of the recent changes to carry out their unlawful trade.

Vanguard News Nigeria