The Nigeria Customs Service, Adamawa/Taraba Area Command, intercepted 12,435 liters of Premium Motor Spirit valued at N10.8m being unlawfully transported to Cameroon.
The command announced on Saturday that the PMS was seized within a two-week period.
The command also disclosed that the product was contained in 491 jerrycans, with 25 liters in each, and eight jerrycans with 20 liters each.
The Customs Area Comptroller in charge of the command, Garba Bashir, clarified that the PMS was intercepted along with the transportation method.
“During anti-smuggling operations along the command frontiers over two weeks, our officers intercepted premium motor spirit on its way to neighboring Cameroon on five occasions,
“The value of the gasoline and the transportation method was NN10.8m,” he said.
The CAC stated that no suspect was arrested, and the perpetrators abandoned the items and fled to avoid arrest.
Bashir added that the seizure of the items was in accordance with sections 150 and 248 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, “and considering the fact that the command’s territorial borders are officially closed.”
He noted that the gasoline had been auctioned due to its flammable nature.
He also mentioned that smuggling activities have caused more harm than good to the nation.
“It obstructs our national growth, hampers our trade policies related to revenue, foreign investment, preservation of domestic trade and growth, food security, and public security,” Bashir said.
“We want to steadfastly inform the smugglers that our operatives are strategically positioned along the borderlines to expedite their exit from this illicit business,” he added.
He sought the support of the border communities in the fight against smuggling.
The Adamawa/Taraba Area Command, Yola, of the NCS is one of the commands under Zone B Customs, headquartered in Kaduna.
