How We Are Making Apapa Port No Go Area for Illicit Trade

Comptroller Malanta Ibrahim Yusuf, Customs Area Controller of Apapa Command recently showed some seizures to reporters in Lagos as part of efforts to suppress smuggling.

He told Ismail Aniemu and other reporters that seven suspects have been arrested in an ongoing onslaught against unlawful activities and illicit trade in Nigeria’s largest port.

He described the success being recorded as fallouts of inter agency collaboration, forensic analysis and reliance on credible intelligence

Tell us about recent attempts at smuggling through Apapa Port and give us a background to some of these seized items.

We have made seizures and will continue to prevent smuggling through our port. I am sure we are going to win the war against illicit trade in this country. I urge my officers to keep it up and let us ensure that we have a very sound industrial relationship with sister agencies.

I am here to showcase another seizure of 2×20ft containers, each containing 500 bags of Basmati rice from China. You can see the level of impunity in smuggling activities; the man didn’t even attempt to conceal the illegal cargo. Is he trying to test our will?

I am telling you now that we cannot and will not relent in rooting out illicit trade activities in this country. A person like this has lost his investment and will probably be prosecuted because we are going to investigate him.

I just have to tell you that there is no hiding place for defaulters. It doesn’t matter how hard you try to make concealment, because of the synergy, intelligence sharing, system auditing, forensic management system and manifest management system, we will root it out.

We also have a container where about 60% of it is laden with food flasks, then the last part is concealed tramadol. The culprit has been arrested and he is undergoing interrogation, and we will soon find out the crux of this illicit importation.

We are going to make sure that such manners are eradicated completely from our system, because the point is, if these kinds of things were allowed into the country, you have no idea how many citizens would be affected. My advice to these people is for them to please have the fear of God.

It may be their son or relatives or friends, or children of those people; honestly, you will never understand if you don’t have at least one person close to you who is a drug addict. What kind of money are you looking for that is worth destroying another family?

Please, citizens are advised to desist from such kinds of importation, as it does not end well. God is watching all of us, and He will judge us.

Sir, have you made any arrests concerning the first seizure?

No, we haven’t, but we have a declaration bearing the name of the importer. Even though he put a fake address on it, we have tried tracing him forensically and we will get to the root of that matter.

Can we put a price on all seizures made so far, or at least item by item?

Yes. Duty Paid Value for the two containers of rice is ₦12.9 million each, summing up to ₦25.8 million, and the value of the Tramadol is estimated at ₦18 million. The Tramadol is coming from India and the rice from China.

The Yuletide is approaching; are these in any way connected to it?

Of course, Yuletide is approaching, so everybody is trying their luck to beat the system and make some money; it is just pure greed. Because what is allowed to be imported is very clear, and the guidelines are there, so why do you have to resort to smuggling?

The government that told you not to bring rice into the country has a reason for that, and one of the reasons is self-sufficiency in food production and creation of employment

With the importer’s audacity to not even bother concealing the cargo, what did he declare in the manifest?

He declared agricultural sprayers.

Smugglers seem unrelenting in their efforts, despite all the seizures and everything. How do you feel about this?

We will keep catching them. Ours is to comply with the extant laws and guidelines, and ensure that these kinds of things do not find their way into the system.

Our legal department takes charge of prosecutions. Sometimes, when we make arrests, we hand them over to appropriate agencies, and the Tramadol culprit is being handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

They are doing their work, which is why we said it is a synergy; you cannot do it all alone. You do your part and give it to the other person to do his.

We also have another seizure of parboiled rice, and we all know that to import , you must have a form M. it is only when you have a form M that you will be able to import into the country. And of recent, because of the federal government’s policy on the importation, especially on the forty-one items, rice is now being prohibited, unless you have the proper documentation. So this importer brought in 2×40 foot containers, with each container carrying 540 bags, all valued at about ₦12.9 million each. And as you can see here, it is a complete importation, nothing like concealment. And it wasn’t labelled so it can easily be bagged as “Made in Nigeria”.

We also have another concealment of the false declaration on medication without NAFDAC stamp, and we all know that every importation of medication and food must have a NAFDAC registration number, which is a permit allowing you and certifying that the cargo’s content is edible.

Another drug importer made a false declaration by declaring ‘emiprazole’, and he has chloroquine injections and another which is just like Viagra. All of these items lack NAFDAC registration numbers, and we all know that items like that are contrary to import guidelines and are therefore liable to seizure under Sections 46, 47 and 165 of Customs and Excise Management Act, Cap 45 Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and is, therefore, an outright seizure.

What is the quantity, sir?

What we have here is a complete 2×40, 1×40 foot container, and it has about 2,000 cartons of different items, with a DPV value of ₦78.3 million.

So you can see how someone carelessly lost all of his investments, just because he wanted to cut corners. What is stopping them from going to approved government agencies, getting their registration and importing legitimately to sell?

We also have another false declaration, where an importer thought he was smart enough to declare tools in place of tomato paste. As I told you earlier, we have a forensic management system that reveals the contents of the cargo.

The importer failed to make a declaration when he knew we were on to him, so based on our intelligence, we quickly struck at the importation; we opened the 20-foot containers, three of them, and all were filled with tomato paste valued at ₦20 million each. Each container is carrying 1,920 cartons of tomato paste.

Where is this importation coming from?

China.

This is another false declaration of balancing machines, but our forensic system detected that it contained used clothing. So we struck, and there are three containers valued at ₦23.7m. A clear case of false declaration.
Of course it is already forfeited, because it is contrary to the prohibition of Sections 46, 47, 165 of Customs and Excise Management Act, Cap 45 Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. So it is liable for seizure and we are also going to condemn it, and then auction it legally.

We also have another false declaration of disk plough, manure spreader and plunges; all tools, meanwhile, the cargo contains veterinary medicines. Multivitamins for animals. No NAFDAC registration. We received this through intelligence from a sister agency, and we struck, and the intelligence paid off with good results.

Are veterinary drugs under Customs Prohibition?

Yes, all drugs fall under NAFDAC, and that includes both human and animal drugs. Because animals include human beings and also other mammals and reptiles. So these are the things; it is not only when they are for human consumption that we show concern, but also animal consumption must be certified.

You know the use of wildlife conservation, where we have guarded against the hunting of animals, so what they must take must also be regulated.

What could be the motive for false declarations? Is it to pay for low value?

No, they just want to circumvent the system by not going to the proper agency to obtain permits; maybe they don’t want to pay the little money charged for the permit. Or maybe the due process which they know that once they go through, will prohibit them from bringing in such cargo. And that’s why they have opted to smuggle it into the country.

We also have another false declaration of pharmaceutical orders only, without going through the due process of obtaining permits from NAFDAC. These drugs are one of the most dangerous, or so I have been told; they include diclofenac and sodium.

This combination is banned by NAFDAC due to its effects on human life, therefore the importer tried to deviate and go through the other way, thinking he could pass through the system. Gradually, we are making Apapa a no-go area for illegal trade perpetrators, and by the grace of God, we will make Apapa a haven for only legitimate and compliant traders.

What is the quantity of this, sir?

About 450 cartons, with a DPV value of ₦70.6 million.

In all of these, how many suspects were apprehended?

I can tell you that we have apprehended about 7 suspects, and they are still undergoing investigation, after which they will be handed to the appropriate agencies.