The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Adamawa/Taraba Area Command, has seized contraband goods with a combined Duty Paid Value of ₦79.86 million following intelligence-led anti-smuggling operations across Adamawa State.
The Area Comptroller, Mohammed Tako, disclosed the seizures at a press conference in Yola today, October 23, 2026, according to a report published by The PUNCH today.
The seized items include 16,825 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), 266 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 501 cartons of foreign bar soap, 20 bags of local maize weighing 100kg each, second-hand clothing and a Mitsubishi Canter truck allegedly used to transport the goods.
According to the report, the operations targeted identified smuggling routes and hotspots across the command’s area of responsibility over several weeks.
One of the interceptions occurred on August 16, 2026, when Customs officers discovered 451 cartons of foreign bar soap stockpiled in the bush along the River Benue in the Ribadu axis. Tako said the suspected smugglers abandoned the goods and fled following the intervention of officers.
On August 20, 2026, officers recovered 374 jerrycans of petrol, each containing 25 litres, along a bush path in Sahuda near the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
Another operation on September 14, 2026, led to the interception of a Mitsubishi Canter truck with registration number XB 566 GML along the Wuro Alhaji-Maiha axis. The vehicle was carrying 116 bags of foreign parboiled rice, each weighing 50kg, and 50 cartons of foreign soap.
Customs officers subsequently discovered 299 jerrycans of petrol, each containing 25 litres, along an unapproved route on the Belel-Goshidan axis on September 21, 2026. Tako said the petroleum products were intended to be smuggled out of Nigeria.
On October 2, 2026, officers uncovered another consignment along the Maiha-Mubi axis comprising 150 bags of foreign parboiled rice weighing 50kg each, 20 bags of local maize weighing 100kg each, 11 bales of second-hand clothing and five jumbo sacks of used garments.
The command’s consolidated figures put the total petrol seized at 673 jerrycans, equivalent to 16,825 litres. The overall reported inventory also included 266 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 501 cartons of foreign bar soap, 11 bales and five jumbo sacks of second-hand clothing, and one Mitsubishi Canter truck.
The aggregate Duty Paid Value of the seized goods was ₦79,857,500, according to the comptroller.
Tako said the seizures were made under the Nigeria Customs Service Act, 2023, citing Sections 150, 233, 245, 246 and 248, alongside Schedule 3 of the Common External Tariff, which contains the import prohibition list.
He urged community leaders and residents of border communities to cooperate with Customs and other security agencies by providing credible information to help combat smuggling and related crimes.
The command said it would sustain its anti-smuggling operations as part of efforts to protect Nigeria’s economic interests and prevent the illicit movement of goods across the country’s borders.
