Men of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’ of the Nigeria Customs Service have intercepted and impounded 1,024 cartons of fake pharmaceutical products alongside other contrabands estimated at N869,550,345.
Displaying the items in Owerri, Wednesday, February 10, the FOU Zone ‘C’ Comptroller, Yusuf Lawal, said they were precisely intercepted in January, 2021. Other items displayed alongside the fake drugs included 1,046 bags of foreign parboiled rice worth N31,380,000 and 62 jumbo bales of used clothings worth N7,800,000, 290 cartons of foreign Eva soap worth N4,176,000 and a Toyota Corolla 2018 model car worth N7,354,345.
Comptroller Lawal who attributed shared intelligence and inter-service diligence to the interception of the pharmaceutical products along Ofosu – Benin road axis, said they were imported from India without NAFDAC certification.
According to him, the cartons of soap which were still on import prohibition list alongside other detergents, were intercepted along Aba – Owerri Road, noting that it is in line with Schedule 3 of Common External Tariff.
The parboiled rice, he said, was trailed and impounded from a warehouse along Elelenwo Road, PortHarcourt, following laid down rules of engagement supported by Sections 147 and 151 of Customs and Excise Management Act, Cap C45 LFN 2004.
The Comptroller further said the drugs will subsequently be handed over to authorities of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for necessary professional scrutiny, adding that FOU Zone C’s objective remains to degrade the activities of smugglers through aggressive patrol of all flanks and flashpoints, saying that a baby who would not allow the mother to sleep, will equally have no sleep/SHARE THIS
• Tag: NCS, FOU ZONE C