The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, says three boats loaded with marijuana along a waterway in Lagos state have been captured.
The NSC, through the Zone ‘A’ Coordinator, Assistant Comptroller-General Charles Edike, made this known on Tuesday in Lagos while speaking at a Stakeholders’ Forum organised by the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, NAGAFF.
According to him, the boats were intercepted by officers of the Western Marine Command along the unnamed waterway on Sunday.
He said, “Just three days ago, our men intercepted three boats fully loaded with marijuana. Our men from the Western Marine Command got the smugglers.
“Men of the service have made large seizures of arms from smugglers on some highways, especially around Idiroko in Ogun and Iseyin in Oyo State and this incident justifies continuous patrols by officers on the highway,” he added.
The zonal coordinator said that smuggling activities on waterways had been on the increase in recent times, noting that men of the service were fully on the alert to check illegal activities of water smugglers.
He said more officers had been deployed to bush paths used by smugglers around Seme border, saying that the strategy was to ensure that smuggling activities were limited in the area.
“The smugglers have been arrested and would be made to face the full wrath of the law,” Edike affirmed.
“Smugglers have resorted to using the waterways to carry out their nefarious activities but I can assure you that men of the service are up to the task to check this criminality.
“We will increase our patrols both on land and waters to ensure those smugglers and other economic saboteurs have no hiding place.
“The service would not yield to calls in some quarters to take away its men on some Federal highways as the deployment is primarily to check smugglers who used the highways to carry out their illegal activities.”
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