Customs Intercepts, Hands Over ₦10.27bn Arms, Drugs, other Contraband at Apapa Port
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted and formally handed over 16 containers of arms, ammunition, expired drugs, and other prohibited goods seized at the Apapa Command.
The contraband, valued at ₦10.27 billion in Duty Paid Value, was handed to relevant agencies during a ceremony on Monday.
Speaking at the event, Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC) Bashir Adeniyi said the operation, conducted in collaboration with sister security agencies, and was part of ongoing efforts to block harmful imports from entering Nigeria’s markets.
“These smuggled items have a harmful effect on the health and wellbeing of unsuspecting Nigerians… in addition to causing insecurity in the country,” the CGC stated.
The seizures include, a container (MRSU 6407089) falsely declared as vehicles but found with 101kg of Colorado Loud cannabis from Canada, two pump-action rifles, one Smith & Wesson pistol, 25 cartridges, and 55 rounds of ammunition, three containers of expired margarine, three containers of used clothing; five containers of expired drugs and prohibited medicament, two containers of frozen chicken breast (1,290 sacks each), 2,401 cartons of codeine syrup, unregistered toothpaste, slippers concealed in bead cartons, jalabiya, expired feed, and cyproheptadine tablets.
Two suspects, Mr. Modi Azuka and Mrs. Lisa Akpedeme, were arrested in connection with the cannabis and firearms shipment and will be handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Department of State Services (DSS) for investigation and prosecution. Another two suspects linked to the poultry products will be handed to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The CGC described the perpetrators as “merchants of death” and vowed to keep blocking their illicit supply chains. “For us, this is a full-scale resistance. We will run them out of business into jail,” he said.
The Apapa operation follows similar interceptions in Onne and at Apapa in recent weeks, underscoring the Service’s intelligence-led clampdown on smuggling through Nigeria’s ports, airports, and borders.
