Customs FOU arraigns two suspected Chinese smugglers

THE Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone ‘A’ , of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Ikeja, Lagos yesterday said it raked in over N1.3 billion last month alone. The Unit also said that two Chinese smugglers along with a Nigerian were arraigned for exporting banned items. A statement by the Unit’s Public Relations officer, Mr. Jerry Atta said that this was the first time the Unit was generating more than a billion Naira in a month. According to Atta, the monies were realized from interception of various contrabands from smugglers. The Unit spokesman also said the two Chinese smugglers; Mr. Shu Xiang Qua and Wu Sheng with one Nigerian, Mr. Ugochukwu Frank, have been docked with four-count charge of storing and exporting prohibited items. Atta explained that the Duty Paid Value on the seized items was put at N893million In the month under review, 126 different seizures were recorded comprising Raw Hide/Skin, Elephant tusks, foreign parboiled rice, frozen poultry products, smuggled vehicles, Indian hemp and various general merchandise. Commending men and officers of the Unit, its Comptroller, Mr. Haruna Mamudu urged them not to relent on the recent success, adding that the continuous fight against smuggling will enhance trade facilitation with a view to sustaining best international standards. The comptroller said that the seized tusks and unprocessed animal skin would be handed over to the Nigeria Environment Standards and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) for further action.