Seized 40 Tramadol Containers: Arrested Customs Officer Threatens To Expose Officer-Syndicates

*Stakeholders  allege cover up by CG

* League of Maritime Editors triggers rejection of N150m bribe

Determined not to go down alone, one of the customs officers arrested on account of alleged connivance in the release of the seized 40 ft containers of Tramadol by the Apapa Area 1 Customs Command on Thursday, has threatened to open a can of worms on how officials of Nigeria Customs Service(NCS) aid the import of the psychotropic drug into the country if pushed to the wall.

The report of frightening dimensions of graft in customs service reported by  the League of Publishers and Maritime Editors recently had triggered  the customs officers into action of saving lives and rejecting mouth-watering bribe of N150 million in dollars for the first time in the history of NCS.

Unlike before where only three or four sacrificial containers of Tramadol were seized in full media glitz to prove a point while many other containers were released and exited from the port in collusion with security agencies, 40 containers  of Tramadol worth N7.3billion in duty paid value were seized in Apapa, while 13 containers of the same substance worth N3.1billion were seized by the Tin Can Island Customs Command, at a different day in the same week, last week in Lagos.

Recall that the Comptroller General of Customs(CG), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) had summoned all the Customs Area Controllers(CACs) following the graft report which went viral and directed them to tighten up security at the ports.

While our findings show that there have been a cargo seizure spree by the customs service since the report, MMS Plus gathered that the arrested officer identified as the Ofiicer in Charge(O/C) Legal at the Federal Operation Unit(FOU) Zone A, Ikeja Customs Command, who is currently in detention for alleged involvement in the seized 40 containers has allegedly disclosed to his colleagues the involvement of other higher ranking officers in the “deal” which he claimed had endured.

Worried by his disposition, the Customs authorities carefully shielded the officer suspect away from the press during the media briefing where the seized containers were unveiled.

It was also curious, according to some maritime stakeholders, that the OC Legal in FOU, Ikeja and two non-customs officials were arrested for alleged collusion, while the releasing customs officer and other security agencies’  officials involved in the examination were not rounded up.

There is a raging suspicion among the freight forwarders and the media that the CG was out to cleverly leave out some trail and kill the matter when he said,” Three suspects arrested, officers inclusive and two others.”

The questions arising from the statement, according to a high profile freight forwarder, are: “How come only one officer was paraded before the media when the CG said officers were arrested? Who are these people?”

Alleging cover up by the CG because of the threat of exposition by the alleged officer suspect, stakeholders  who spoke at the Weekend on this called on the management of NCS to ensure that everybody involved in the release and exiting of the seized cargoes were arrested and prosecuted.

The import of Tramadol has been a syndicate operation and prior to the League of Maritime Publishers and Editors’ report Customs officials know many of the importers.

Meanwhile, presenting the 13 seized containers to the media, Col Hameed Ali  who was represented by the Deputy Comptroller-General of Customs (DCG) Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation, DCG Austin Chidi said the seizures include; 11x 40ft and 2x 20ft containers of Tramadol, Ciprofloxacin capsules,  Diclofenac Sodium Tablets, Soffeathe I.V Cannula, Sildencfil Citrate Tablets, Bleaching Soaps, Bales of used Clothing with a total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of Three Billion, One hundred and Thirty-four million, Twenty-nine thousand, Two hundred and ninety naira (N3,134,029,290.00).

DCG Chidi noted that two of the containers had earlier been handed over to NAFDAC on October 11th and 20th, while one container of Tramadol was handed over to NDLEA on November 2nd, 2017.

“In the same vein, a container of soap suspected to contain harmful bleaching ingredients and two (2) containers of soap suspected to contain harmful bleaching ingredients and two containers of used clothing were seized in line with the provisions of CEMA CAP C45 LFN 2004 Sections 46 and 161. All the seizures were in violation of the absolute prohibition list of CET 2015- 2019”, he said.

The Customs boss said the Service achieved this feat through vigilance and intelligence gathering within the system, as well as robust synergy and collaboration of critical stakeholders and the security agencies.

On the aspect of revenue generation, he stated that the Command had collected and generated a total of N303.5billion from January 2018 till date.

The Customs Area Controller at the Command, CAC Musa Baba Abdullahi lamented that the problem of illegal tramadol import continues to increase.

“This tramadol issue is addictive and it leads to other illicit vices like stealing, armed robbery among others. In the Northern part of the country, the problem has ravaged the region and it is an issue that demands urgent attention from all stakeholders including the press. The need for enlightenment on this issue can never be overemphasized” he said.