The Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Beecroft, who also serves as the Maritime Component Commander, South-West, Paul Ponfa Nimmyel, yesterday handed over 1,306 bags of smuggled foreign parboiled rice to the Nigerian Customs Service, Western Marine Command, Apapa.

The 1,306 bags of smuggled foreign parboiled rice were seized during an anti-smuggling operation in the Majidun area of Ikorodu, Lagos State.

The operation, conducted on April 12, 2025, was carried out by personnel from the Maritime Component of Operation AWATSE.

“Our Quick Response Team, QRT, engaged the suspects in line with the Joint Task Force’s Standard Operating Procedures. No casualties were recorded, and the operation was executed with utmost professionalism,” Nimmyel told journalists.

Following the seizure, the confiscated rice was handed over to the Nigeria Customs Service, Western Marine Command, Apapa, on April 16, in accordance with the Harmonised Standard Procedures for arrest, detention, and prosecution.

In a related development, the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Kirikiri Lighter Terminal (KLT) Command, has transferred custody of nine containers loaded with expired and counterfeit pharmaceutical products to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Comptroller Joy Edelduok, the Customs Area Controller at the KLT Command, stated that the 40-foot containers had been abandoned by importers for several years, complicating enforcement efforts.

She added that the importation contravened provisions of the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023.