The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Wednesday said that its officers intercepted 11 containers laden with contraband goods, including unregistered sex enhancement drugs, expired foodstuffs, and drones, valued at N921 billion at the Apapa Ports, Lagos.
The Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, told journalists that the containers comprised five 40-foot containers, two 20-foot containers, and four additional seizures of loosely concealed items.
"The total duty paid value is N921 billion,” he stated.
According to the NCS boss, five of the containers were loaded with sex-enhancement drugs, which he described as posing a significant threat to public health.
“These items constitute a clear danger to public health with the potential to cause significant mortality if permitted to infiltrate the domestic markets,” Adeniyi said.
Adeniyi revealed the details of the containers' contents. The first 40-foot container held 89 cartons of unregistered pharmaceutical products, while the second contained 242 cartons.
He said, “The third 40ft container had 1,001 cartons and packages of hydra-sildenafil citrate tablets. These are also lacking requisite NAFDAC registrations.”
“The other 40ft container had 1,400 packages of chest and lungs beta plus big booty tablets, also unregistered,” he said.
“The fifth 40ft container had 805 packages of unregistered products. This one was falsely declared as a cosmetic powder.”
He further said, “We also have a 20-foot container which has expired margarine products. We have another 20ft container which has expired margarine products, 60 units of warrior drones.”
Adeniyi highlighted the seizure of advanced drone technology, including military-grade units, without proper regulatory documentation.
“We also intercepted another 53 units of different helicopter drones. These drones were intercepted for lack of an End User Certificate and it has a duty-paid value of N2.1 million.
“We have 10 pieces of professional FM transceiver walkie-talkies. These are communication devices evacuated for lack of End-User Certificates,” he said.
He categorised the seized goods into three main groups: unregistered pharmaceutical products, expired food items, and controlled equipment such as drones and communication devices.
“The first category which constitutes 73.7 per cent of the total seizure is that of unregistered pharmaceutical products lacking mandatory National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control registration numbers,” Adeniyi explained, citing Section 28 of the NAFDAC Act.
The second category includes expired food items “with compromised safety profiles that pose an imminent danger to public health.”
He said the third category comprises “controlled equipment, including drone technology and telecommunication devices imported without the requisite End User Certificates from the Office of the National Security Adviser.”
Adeniyi also decried a “sophisticated pattern of wrong declaration,” where items such as pharmaceuticals were deliberately misclassified as cosmetics.
“Two containers had this pharmaceutical but were concealed with skin creams to hide them from customers,” he noted.
He said the seizures suggest the emergence of “organised networks with sophisticated capabilities rather than isolated smuggling attempts that we used to have.”
He assured that the NCS is working closely with key regulatory agencies.
