• Arrest international syndicates with passports of different ECOWAS countries, driver’s licenses
• Decries dearth import, export due to the trade policy of the Republic of Benin
Despite the economic hardships in the country, the Seme Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted counterfeit United States currency worth $6 million, which is equivalent to N2.7billion at the exchange rate of N460.52 and arrested two suspects who were sending counterfeit currency from Nigeria to Benin Republic.
The command said the suspects were arrested at the Gbaji checkpoint along the Seme corridor on January 31, 2023 and are currently detained at customs awaiting prosecution.
The Regional Command of Customs, Dera Nnadi, while presenting the seized items to newsmen, yesterday, said the command also arrested and seized a 1,300 x 30 liter jerry can of Premium Motor Spirit also known as petrol, about 39,000 litres. through one fuel tanker on the river bank.
Nnadi said a commanding officer on patrol at the Gbetrome base, intercepted six Maltese Interna
national passport with the same image as a woman with a different name.
The passports shown to journalists are two citizens of Senegal, three Togolese, four Republic of Benin and one Republic of Niger, along with 10 international driving licenses from various countries of the two male suspects detained in the command, pending further investigation. .
Other items seized by the command include, 55 sacks containing 550 pieces of donkey skin worth N11.3 million, agrochemicals and veterinary medicine, among others.
Speaking on trade facilitation, CAC said the command, while still recovering from the effects of the border closure, facilitated the movement of the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization Scheme (ETLS) with 70 trucks with N1.4 million collected.
On the baggage declaration, Nnadi said there are 81 who have duties up to N4.5 million, as the goods imported under this arrangement include food and beverage products produced in the sub-region.
Speaking on the decline in imports, the Controller said the command recorded only five import declarations during the period with a total of N13.3 million paid as duties.
According to him, the lack of imports is a consequence of the trade policy introduced by the Republic of Benin, which traders and Services consider hostile to Nigerian exports.
On exports, Nnadi said the order facilitated 122 trucks containing 3,770.48 metric tons of cargo to be made in Nigeria with the value of Free On Board N523 million and National Export Supervision Scheme N2.6 million.
He said other sources of revenue for the command include fees collected from the auction of confiscated items, especially petroleum products and other perishable items.
According to him, the command’s main source of income, which is import and export, has not been increased since the opening of the land border as directed by the Federal Government, because the traders are still strong facing the challenge of being out of business. more than two years.
He, however, praised the officers of the command for the seizure of recorded landmarks despite attempts made at bribing.
Also speaking, the Controller of Seme Border Immigration, Michael Dike, said that although it is possible to have dual citizenship, some identifications that are from international syndicates indulged in crime.
The Coordinator, National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) Seme Command, Dr Nurudeen Audu, said the seized agrochemicals and veterinary drugs were substandard and not applicable to Nigeria.
He said the product did not have an expiration date, manufacturing batch number and manufacturer’s address, which would be used to trace the manufacturer in the country of origin.