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A lorry conveying 1,153 parcels of Marijuana estimated at N57.448 Million neatly sealed off behind the lorry with a thick aluminium, has been intercepted by the Nigeria Customs Service (NSC,) Kwara area command.

The command disclosed that it had generated N3.3 billion within two months.

The command’s controller, Faith Ojeifo, who disclosed this on Wednesday at the command’s premises in a press conference said that the driver of the lorry was stopped and searched along Yamboa Axis of Bukuro in Baruten Local Government Area on July 3, 2024, at about 5:pm.

The NCC boss also said that the command has remitted the amount realised between July and August into the coffers of the federal government.

It was observed that the back of the lorry was empty unknown to the driver that Customs officers’ eagle eyes would uncover parcels of marijuana that had been welded with thick aluminium that covered a portion of the back of the lorry.

“In other to trick our officers, they have developed ways of using modified vehicles and motorcycles to smuggle goods. They have even gone as far as displaying their dexterity by skillfully fabricating trucks with false bodies and bottoms mainly to conceal dangerous drugs to deceive our operatives,” he further said.

Ojeifo told journalists that it was at the point of taking the truck to the command’s Office to break the back and uncover the hidden parcels of Marijuana that the driver escaped into the bush.

“While the search was ongoing, the driver, realizing that the eagle eyes of our officers had discovered that there was concealment, abandoned the truck and fled into the bush to evade arrest; this action on the part of the driver triggered the interest of our operatives,” he stated.

Ojeifo said that the DAF truck with registration number: T-25750-LA worth 21.5 million which conveyed the banned substance, has been impounded while the command also handed over the seized cannabis to Kwara state command of Nigeria Drug and Law

He lamented that: “it is quite unfortunate that die-hard smugglers will stop at nothing to carry out their evil enterprise.

Promising to appreciate the officers and men who arrested the culprits, the newly posted Ojeifo boasted that his new initiative to reorganise the patrol teams at border towns and communities in the state has continued to yield results.

“Innovative actions adopted under my leadership at border stations include reorganizing my patrol teams, charging officers in Charge of outstations and border station has yielded a positive result,” he added.

“Gentlemen of the press, during one of my parades with my officers, I pledged to honour any officer who exhibits exceptional performance. The tenacity and doggedness of our officers who made this seizure will not go unnoticed''.

Meanwhile, the command was also able to seize 110 kegs of 2,750 litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) with a duty paid value of N550,000 from smugglers taking it to neighbouring countries.

He added that the product has been auctioned and the money realised was remitted into the Federal Government coffers.

He wondered: “it is difficult to imagine that despite the current scarcity of PMS in the country, some unpatriotic Nigerians still attempted to smuggle this product out of the country through our borders

“Within the period under review, the total DPV of seized items is N42.7 million,” he disclosed.

Meanwhile, State Commandant of Nigeria Drugs Law Enforcement Agents (NDLEA) Fatimah Abiola Popoola who officially received the seized parcels of Marijuana at the occasion said she was delighted to be part of the laudable exercise.

She said if the drugs had escaped to the society it would have done a lot of harm and destroyed more lives, stressing that no efforts should be left undone to rid the society of illicit drug suppliers.

The NDLEA commandant however assured that she would collaborate with the Customs Service to arrest the fleeing driver, and other associated members to rid the state of suppliers of illicit drugs.

“This is good and laudable, we are cooperating with the custom to see that we arrest the suspects, they are not supposed to be in the society,” she said.