The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adamawa/Taraba Area Command, has intercepted 16,825 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), 266 bags of foreign parboiled rice and other prohibited goods valued at ₦79.86 million in a series of anti-smuggling operations across Adamawa State.
Other items seized include 501 cartons of foreign-made bar soap, second-hand clothing and a Mitsubishi Canter truck, according to the command.
The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller M.A. Tako, disclosed the seizures during a press briefing at the command’s headquarters in Yola on Friday, warning smugglers to desist from illegal activities or face the full consequences of the law.
Tako attributed the seizures to intelligence gathering, surveillance and coordinated enforcement operations targeting suspected smuggling activities along border routes and other locations within the command’s area of responsibility.
He said that on August 16, 2026, officers raided the River Benue shoreline around the Ribadu axis, where they discovered 451 cartons of foreign-made bar soap concealed in a bush.
According to him, the goods were suspected to have been stockpiled for smuggling, but those responsible fled upon sighting the officers.
In a separate operation on August 20, customs operatives recovered 374 jerry cans of PMS, each containing 25 litres, along a bush path in Sahuda, near the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
The controller said officers also intercepted a Mitsubishi Canter truck with registration number XB 566 GML along the Wuro Alhaji-Maiha axis on September 14.
The vehicle was conveying 116 bags of foreign parboiled rice, each weighing 50 kilogrammes, and 50 cartons of foreign-made bar soap.
Tako added that on September 21, officers discovered another 299 jerry cans of PMS, each containing 25 litres, along an unauthorised route in the Bele-Goshidan axis. He said the petroleum products were suspected to have been intended for illegal export.
He further disclosed that on October 2, operatives seized 150 bags of foreign parboiled rice weighing 50 kilogrammes each, 20 bags of locally produced maize weighing 100 kilogrammes each, 11 bales of second-hand clothing and five jumbo sacks of used clothing along a bush path on the Maiha-Mubi axis.
The controller said the operations resulted in the seizure of 673 jerry cans of PMS, equivalent to 16,825 litres; 501 cartons of foreign-made bar soap; 266 bags of foreign parboiled rice; 11 bales and five jumbo sacks of second-hand clothing; and one Mitsubishi Canter truck.
He put the total duty-paid value of the seized items at ₦79,857,500.
Tako said the seizures were made in accordance with the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, particularly Sections 150, 233, 245, 246 and 248, as well as Schedule 3 of the Common External Tariff’s Import Prohibition List.
He commended the Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, and the service’s management for providing the resources and logistical support required to sustain anti-smuggling operations.
The controller also praised the officers involved for their vigilance and commitment to enforcing customs regulations.
He called on members of the public to provide credible and timely information about suspicious activities in their communities, stressing that securing the nation’s borders required collective effort.
Tako urged Nigerians to support the service’s efforts to curb smuggling and protect the country’s economic interests.
He assured the public that the command would sustain its enforcement operations against illicit trade and other illegal activities across the country’s borders in line with its statutory responsibilities.
