The Co-ordinator of the Strike force, Deputy Comptroller Mohammed Sani Yusuf disclosed to newsmen in Lagos while conducting them round the warehouses in Ikeja and Ikorodu.

According to him, no less than 4000 bags of foreign parboiled rice (an equivalent of about seven truck loads), were seized.

Others are: 1,030 slabs of donkey skin, 387kg of cannabis sativa, 285 bales of used clothes, 1,613 cartons of Codeine cough syrup (100ml per bottle), 132 cartons of 200mg Sildenafil Citrate, 40 cartons of Tramadol, 5 cartons of Chilly Cutter, 1,080 pairs of ladies shoes, 110 cartons of ladies bags, 115 cartons of ladies gel among other items, with a total duty paid value of N6,644,472,520.

Yusuf stated that the federal government through the ministry of health had banned the production/ exportation of codeine because of its gross abuse, noting that the use and abuse of drugs is responsible for the substantial cause of different social vices and criminalities in the society.

“This is witnessed in the pervasive outburst of insecurity, hence all patriotic citizens are enjoined to support the fight against smuggling of any kind”, he said.

He pointed out that the quest to smuggle foreign parboiled rice into the country has been on the increase, despite concerted efforts by the federal government to encourage local production.

He stressed further that the attendant effects of smuggling foreign rice into the country include, but not limited to: increase in the rate of unemployment, draining of the nation’s foreign exchange, health hazards among others.

According to him, the continuous extermination of wild life, in this case donkey skin, has negative impact on the bio- diversity in the ecosystem, as consistent elimination of donkeys will eventually lead to the extinction of the specie, which will consequently affect the ecosystem.

Yusuf said, by their mandate, “we shall always ensure compliance with all customs extant laws ensure complete payment of duties and penalties through the issuance of Demand Notices (DN) when necessary.

“Our resolve to step on the fight against smuggling and enemies of the economy is renewed every day because smugglers are unrelenting.