By Aduragbemi Omiyale
About 162 cartons of Tramaking, a brand of Tramadol hydrochloride, with 225 and 250 milligrams, have been intercepted by officials of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Cargo Command of the Nigeria Customs Service.
The Customs Area Controller Comptroller, Mr Sambo Dangaladima, disclosed that the hard drugs originated from India and Pakistan and were routed through Addis-Ababa to Lagos.
The customs officer, who stated that the milligrams (225 and 250mg) were above allowable thresholds as contained in the extant laws, added that they had a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N13.8 billion.
He further disclosed that the seized items had been handed over to the representative of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further action.
“We are very much mindful of the fact that 2023 is an election year in Nigeria; the inflow traffic of these hard drugs that induce our youths to do extraordinary things (when taken) are bound to increase, but I can assure the unscrupulous importers that MMAC is the most dangerous route for their illicit trade because we are always here to catch them and ensure that they face the wrath of the law,” he stated.
Mr Dangaladima also disclosed that his men intercepted various military hardware and uniforms from two airway bill numbers 118-11860343/3 and 118-1886033215.
The hardware consists of 309 pieces of military helmets, 106 pieces of military armless jackets, 352 pieces of ballistic body armoured pads, 119 pieces of police badges, five pieces of bulletproof jackets, 33 pieces of body side ballistic pads, and 105 pieces of ballistic chest plates.
He said the items were imported from South Africa, with the suspect, Mr Olaolu Marquis, arrested due to his inability to produce an End-User-Certificate, which is the lawful prerequisite for such importation.
On revenue generation, Mr Dangaladima stated that in 2022, the command generated N69.8 billion compared with the N55.7 billion raked in a year earlier.
“This shows an overwhelming increase of N14.1 billion or 25.34 per cent. The 2022 yearly target was N66.9 billion, but the command surpassed it with N2.8 billion or 4.24 per cent,” he said.
