The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it intercepted controlled security equipment, unregistered pharmaceuticals, expired food items and other contraband items valued at over N921 million at the seaports.
Addressing newsmen at the Apapa Area Command on Wednesday, the Comptroller-General Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said the seizures involved 11 separate interceptions that included five 40-foot containers, two 20-foot containers and four loosely concealed contraband between January and April 2025.
Seized items included unregistered medicines without mandatory certification from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and expired margarine products, among others.
There were also 60 units of warrior drones without valid end-user certificates, valued at N15.9 million, 53 helicopter drones valued at N2.1 million, as well as 10 professional FM transceiver walkie-talkies, none of which had end-user certificates from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Meanwhile, Adeniyi has described the agency’s pilot phase of the Customs Unified Management Information System, (also known as B’Odogwu), at PTML and Tin Can Island Port as crucial but challenging.
He noted that though the B’Odogwu rollout was ambitious and necessary, the NCS management knew that the initial implementation would come with some itches.
However, he said the agency was approaching the situation with flexibility and innovation, alongside stakeholder and bank engagements to address the hiccups arising from the deployment.
In the area of enforcement, Adeniyi said the agency has scaled up surveillance across seaports, airports and land borders in response to evolving tactics by transnational criminal networks attempting to breach the country’s import protocols.
He warned about the rising influx into the Nigerian market of unregistered pharmaceuticals, especially sexual enhancement drugs, which he said is a grave threat to public health and safety.
Adeniyi noted that an analysis of the seizures revealed five key smuggling trends, such as the disturbing proliferation of sexual enhancement drugs, with five of the 11 intercepted containers laden with variants of sildenafil citrate and related substances.
According to him, the indiscriminate use of these drugs could lead to serious health complications, including cardiovascular risks. There was also a growing pattern of mis-declaration, with importers labeling pharmaceuticals as general merchandise or cosmetics to evade detection.
More so, there is the diversification of contraband shipments, with importers mixing pharmaceuticals, expired food and restricted technology items in a single container, which indicates the involvement of sophisticated criminal networks.
Another is the strategic selection of countries with weaker pharmaceutical export controls; and the increasing importation of non-pharmaceutical security threats, including drones and communication gadgets, which raises significant concerns for national security.
