The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has made a significant seizure at the Onne Port in Rivers State, intercepting a container from Turkey containing a large cache of weapons and ammunition.
The container, which was subjected to a physical examination on June 21, 2024, was found to contain 844 rifles and 112,500 pieces of live ammunition.
According to the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the seized items include 764 units of Tomahawk Jojef Magnum Black Pump Action Rifles, 10 units of VC Verney Caron Gunmakers Jojef Magnum Silver Pump Action Rifles, 50 units of VC Verney Caron Gunmaker Double Barrel Rifles, and 20 units of VC Verney Caron Gunmaker Single Barrel Rifles, Exclusive Series.
The shipment also included Sterling High-Quality Live Ammunition.
The duty-paid value of the container is N4,171,710,000, and eight other containers with falsely declared contents, including used clothes and cough syrup with codeine, have been seized with a total duty-paid value of N13,915,710,000.
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Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the seizure and are currently in custody, with a thorough investigation ongoing to ensure all those involved face the full wrath of the law.
The Comptroller General of Customs commended the officers involved in the operation and warned others who may be contemplating similar illegal activities that the Nigeria Customs Service will not tolerate any action that compromises the economy and security of the nation.
