Kwara Customs says seizures carry ₦604.3m DPV, include Tramadol and vehicles
The Kwara Area Command of the Nigeria Customs Service says it intercepted goods it described as smuggled, prohibited or uncustomed, with a combined Duty Paid Value of ₦604.33 million.
Acting Area Controller Najeem Ogundeyi announced the seizures at a press briefing in Ilorin on Thursday, September 10.
The items listed by the command included controlled pharmaceuticals, foreign food products, petroleum products, used clothing and two vehicles.
The ₦604.33 million figure is the Duty Paid Value assigned to the goods by Customs.
It is not cash recovered.
Tramadol among intercepted goods
Customs said officers intercepted 3,396 packets of 100mg Tramadol, assigning them a Duty Paid Value of about ₦50.95 million.
The command described the controlled-drug interception as a public-health and security concern.
Other items listed by Customs included:
- 6,705 cartons of foreign spaghetti, with a DPV of about ₦201.15 million;
- 270 bags of foreign parboiled rice, with a DPV of about ₦25.25 million;
- 6,875 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, valued at ₦2.75 million;
- used clothing valued by Customs at about ₦32.3 million;
- 14 bags of Basmati rice;
- a 2025 Toyota Highlander, assigned a DPV of ₦214 million; and
- a 2018 Dodge Charger SXT, valued at ₦77.59 million.
Customs said the interceptions were made along several routes in Kwara State.
Customs says food interceptions involved irregular imports
Ogundeyi said enforcement involving foreign food products was not targeted at legitimate food trade.
According to the command, the affected goods were intercepted because they were allegedly moved through unapproved routes or without required documentation.
That remains the Customs enforcement position.
The interceptions do not, by themselves, establish criminal guilt against any unidentified driver, trader, importer or owner.
₦7.98bn revenue is a separate figure
The command separately reported generating ₦7,978,338,031.21 in revenue during the period covered by its briefing.
That revenue figure is different from the ₦604.33 million Duty Paid Value attached to the seized goods.
The figures should not be combined or described as money recovered from enforcement operations.
What happened after the seizures?
The public record reviewed for this story does not yet establish whether suspects were arrested or charged in connection with the consignments.
It also does not establish whether final forfeiture orders have been obtained or how the various seized items will be disposed of.
Those questions are particularly important for the Tramadol seizure.
The next accountability steps are to establish which agency takes custody of the controlled pharmaceuticals, whether any prosecution follows and what records support their eventual lawful disposal.
For the vehicles, food products and fuel, the same legal distinction applies: seizure is an enforcement action, not a conviction.
For now, the verified position is that Kwara Customs says the intercepted goods carry a combined Duty Paid Value of ₦604.33 million, while arrest, prosecution, forfeiture and disposal status remain unresolved.