By Onu Okorie

Nigeria Customs Service NCS has intercepted illicit drugs and expired pharmaceutical products with a Duty Paid Value DPV of over ₦53.39 billion at its Apapa Area Command.

According to a statement made available to the media yesterday in Abuja, the seizures were two 40-foot containers carrying large consignments of Cannabis Sativa concealed alongside imported vehicles, household items and automobile spare parts.

Speaking during the formal handover of the seized narcotics and expired medicines at the Apapa Area Command, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the seizures underscored the Service’s growing intelligence and enforcement capacity in combating transnational criminal networks.

 Commending the Apapa Command, he described the operation as one of the Service’s most significant anti-smuggling successes, aimed at protecting public health and national security.

Adeniyi explained that the operation, carried out through intelligence gathering, scanning technology, physical examination and close collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA, led to the interception of nine containers laden with narcotics, counterfeit and expired pharmaceutical products.

Other siezures include, one container held 3,639 parcels of Cannabis Sativa, weighing 1,819.5 kilograms, while the second concealed 9,918 sachets weighing approximately 4.95 metric tonnes.

Two other containers were found conveying 3,398 cartons of Codeine Syrup—equivalent to 339,800 bottles—hidden inside cartons of insulated casserole dishes.

Customs operatives also uncovered three containers loaded with expired pharmaceutical products, including Tramadol, Oxytocin injections, Carbamazepine tablets, Cloxicillin capsules, Vitamin B12 injections and B-Complex injections, all of which have been slated for regulatory action. Another container carrying Piccan Teething Powder was equally seized.

A further breakthrough came with the interception of a container conveying 1,100 packages of CHACOLD Chlorpheniramine Maleate Capsules bearing a fake registration number purportedly issued by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC.

Adeniyi said that although the consignment initially appeared legitimate, detailed verification revealed the products were never registered with NAFDAC, pointing to a deliberate attempt to smuggle unregistered medicines into the Nigerian market.

He said the use of forged regulatory documents posed a serious threat to public health and justified the seizure under the provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023.

“The cumulative Duty Paid Value of these nine seizures stands at ₦53,391,140,029,” Adeniyi disclosed, stressing that the significance of the seizures extended far beyond their monetary worth.

“These seizures represent lives protected, families preserved, communities secured and countless young Nigerians shielded from the devastating consequences of drug abuse and unsafe medicines,” he said.