By Raji Rasak

 The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Seme Command, on Thursday, handed over tramadol, cannabis sativa and other drugs to the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Seme, Lagos State.

Speaking at a press briefing in Seme, the Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Bello Jibo, said the seized drugs had a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N1,481,107,671.

Jibo said the drugs were intercepted by the men of his command between January and May.

“In our quest to ensure the safety and well-being of Nigerians, most especially the fight against drug trafficking, today the command is handing over the items to NDLEA and NAFDAC.

“They include 100 cartons of tramadol (120mg), 2.8kg and 306 parcels of cannibal sativa, 132 packets of tramadol capsules, 77 packages of tramadol, 86 packages of Apetamim syrup and 50 pieces of Baba yellow syrup.

“Others are three sachets of rofhymol, 32 cartons of fearless energy drinks and 139 cartons of soft drinks (expired).

“With the approval of Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hammed Alli (rtd) in Line with the standard operating procedure and equally in the spirit of inter-agency, we have handed over the items to the two agencies,” he said.

Jibo also said the command made a remarkable seizure of 10,865 Jerry cans (30 litres) of petrol equivalent to 325,950 litres.

“This is about 10 tankers of 33,000 litres each. This seizure has the Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N65,614,560.

“In another development, through the continuous surveillance of the beaches and creeks by our men, we have recorded another huge interception of 1,600 (30 litres) Jerry cans of petrol,” he said.

Jibo said the seizure was made within two days with DPV of N11,579,040.

He said the product would be auctioned in line with standard operating procedure of perishable items.

“I appreciate the contribution of our stakeholders, host communities, other media friends for their unflinching support towards the successes so far achieved.

“I also thank the Comptroller General of Customs and the management for their support, guidance and motivation and also the gallant and patriotic officers of the command for their commitment to the progress of the nation,” he said.

Receiving the items, Mr Abubakar Wada, the Unit Commander of the NDLEA Seme command, said the hard drugs would be destroyed by the command.

Wada said the seizure would further reduce consumption of hard drugs by the people in the country.

He commended the Seme command of Customs for handing over the dangerous drugs to the command.

(NAN)