Comptroller Aliyu performing the hand over of the drugs to Commander of Narcotics Kabiru.
Story by Dili Utomi
The Zone ‘A’ of the Federal Operations Unit, an interventionist arm of the Nigeria Customs Service with its coverage area spanning the South western part of Nigeria has over a period of 8 weeks recorded remarkable achievements in its core mandates.
The Unit is being guided by Comptroller of Customs Gambo Aliyu and he has shown such capabilities in curbing smuggling, enforcement of compliance, prevention of illegal trade and also in the area of blocking revenue leakages.
Tuesday, the 5th of May marks another milestone as the Unit head held his second press briefing since the assumption of duty and showcased the huge quantities of seized illegitimate items of trade recorded over the period.
The unit leveraging on advanced
surveillance, intelligence sharing frameworks, and inter-agency
collaboration had over the 8 weeks period reportedly thwarted 473 smuggling attempts in their operations resulting in seizures of the following items which include:
a) Rice- 8,794 bags of 50kg each equivalent to 15 trailer loads.
b) Used Tokunbo vehicles- 22 units.
c) 1,863 pieces of used refrigerator compressors.
d) Used Clothing- 328 bales.
e) Vegetable Oil 1188 kegs of 25 litres each.
f) PMS- 31, 705 litres.
g) 485 pieces used tyres
h) 69 cartons of foreign Bonita spaghetti
i) 24 bags 50kg each of foreign sugar and Five Cartons of ST
Louis.
j) 531 cartons of foreign poultry products.
According to Comptroller Aliyu “the unit also reinforced its anti-smuggling strategies to continuously cut supply chain networks in drug trafficking with the launch of an operation code named “OPERATION HAWK”. This is aimed at curbing illicit goods trafficking, safeguarding revenue and protecting our society and environment from incidences of crime, criminalities and pervasive societal vices that threaten national stability. Against this backdrop, the unit successfully took out 3,340
parcels of synthetic strain of cannabis indica, ‘Ghanaian loud’, weighing 1540kg from the society”.
His words “this effort is an affirmation of our commitment in the fight against drugs smuggling syndicates in the Zone. Our analysis of the trend in recent times, indicate that the traffickers are devising different methods to perpetuate illicit trade, therefore, there is the need for critical security stakeholders to upscale their intelligence sharing mechanism to cut the supply chain completely”
Comptroller Aliyu stated that in addition to leveraging modern technologies for intelligence gathering, he has also constituted and effectively coordinated a specialised team responsible for integrating Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) operations, which is already yielding positive and measurable results.
Again, a separate operation showed that the officers and men of the Gbaji outpost under the Unit while acting on credible intelligence at about 0645hrs of Thursday 30th April 2026, intercepted a green coloured Toyota Highlander driven by one Mr. Oni Iredia Martins, a 71year old male Nigerian citizen suspected to be conveying Narcotics substances.
Further examination of the vehicle by the officers revealed 6 parcels of cocaine substance, with 2 parcels of the powdered substance Cocaine weighing 2.3kg, 4 parcels weighing 4.1kg of crack cocaine and Methamphetamine, all totalling 6.4kg of the illicit substance. The consignment was intercepted at Elijah Bus stop along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor, and has a street value of approximately N2.35b (Two Billion, Three Hundred Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira)
Comptroller Aliyu informed the journalists present at the event that the numerous seizures occurred across borders in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, and Ondo states. Several defendants were arrested in connection with these operations.
Comptroller Aliyu and CN Kabiru while explaining the content of the packaged cocaine.at the briefing.
As part of the of inter-agency collaboration, the seized 1,540kg of synthetic strain of cannabis indica, ‘Ghanaian loud’, totalling 3,340 Compressed packages, together with the 6.4kg of Cocaine and Methamphetamine were handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation and prosecution in courts of competent jurisdictions. These seizures underscore the operational prowess and strategic effectiveness of our operatives.
Furthermore, officers on duty, seized Four (4) Cylinders of a Chemical confirmed to be high grade MERCURY, the item is illegally used in small scale mining of GOLD. The item is a DUAL-PURPOSE Chemical that poses significant environmental hazards and is controlled by the MINAMATA CONVENTION ON MERCURY. The items were concealed in the false bottom segment in the trunk of a TOYOTA AVENSIS, at the Gbaji Outpost, along the Lagos-Abidjan corridor.
The arrest was effected together with a male suspect who has been granted Administrative bail, as investigation
reached an advanced stage. The items and the suspect would be handed over to the Nigerian Environmental Safety Regulation and Enforcement Agency (NESREA) in furtherance of Customs’ function as directed by their Headquarters.
Remarkably, the numerous physical seizures made over the period have a duty Paid Value (DPV) of (₦5,504,039,720.00) Five billion, Five Hundred and Four Million,Thirty-Nine Thousand, Seven Hundred and Twenty Naira only was recorded during the
period under review.
The seized 4 cylinders of mercury.
The Unit in addition, through the enforcement of compliance and with the use of demand notices recovered a total of total of Ninety-Seven Million, Seven Hundred and Three Thousand, Five Hundred and Ninety-Six Naira and Fifty-Five Kobo (N97,703,596.55) only.
Comptroller Aliyu added that “Geospatial tools allow us to overlay seizure data, movement patterns of contraband such as rice, used vehicles, and narcotics, and
intelligence reports on digital maps. This facilitates better resource allocation, rapid response, and disruption of supply chains before they reach our highways”.
“The recent commissioning of our new state-of-the-art Command Headquarters at Iperu in Ogun State provides the perfect
infrastructure backbone for this modernization drive. The facility will
host an advanced Command and Control Centre equipped for geospatial monitoring, data analytics, and seamless inter-agency collaboration with NDLEA, Police, and other security and intelligence organisations.
While handing over the seized Cannabis Indica and Cocaine, Comptroller Aliyu revealed that the meeting between his principal, the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi (PhD) and the head of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) is in furtherance of their memorandum of understanding and discussions and also serve as a testament to the direction of the two agencies of government. He noted that a total of four (4) suspects were arrested in connection with the hard drugs and will be handed over to the NDLEA.
Comptroller Aliyu pointing at the displayed, seized bags of rice.
He advises economic saboteurs that the Unit is resolute in carrying out their mandate to protect the nation’s economy. He noted that since there is a nexus between hard drugs, arms and criminality, they will always try to cut off the supply chains of these illegal items.
Commander of Narcotics Ibrahim I. Kabiru of the Lagos State Strategic Command, NDLEA while receiving the seized hard drugs said that detailed investigation to unmask those behind the illegal acts will be conducted. He added that “these seizures send clear messages that Lagos cannot be a safe haven for those willing to bring in these illegal substances. We shall pursue these cases to their logical conclusion” He concluded.
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