CALABAR – Officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have seized over 659 units of illicit drugs worth N18 million in Cross River State.
The breakthrough was made by the Cross River/Calabar Free Trade Zone and Akwa Ibom Area of the NCS, who, in turn, handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in the state.
Converseer reports that the controlled substances which were intercepted by vigilant officers of the NCS at Mfum Border include Pethidine 100mg (216 Units), Morphine Sulphate (216 units), 37 packets of Phenobarbital and 37 units of Sodium Sterop.
Others are Fentanyl 50mm (108 Units), Midazolam Mylan (33 units), Sodium Injectables (26 units) and valued at N18 million.
Handing over the illicit substances to the NDLEA at the NCS Command’s Headquarters in Calabar, on Tuesday, the Area Comptroller, Comptroller Gabriel Ogbonna, said the exercise was in line with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between both agencies, adding that the handing over would serve as a testament for younger officers from both agencies to learn to work together.
“On behalf of the Comptroller General of NCS, I hereby hand over these items to NDLEA. This handover is in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between our agencies.
“Today’s event will serve as a testament to our subordinates to learn to work together and assist one another while performing their duties.
“The collaboration and synergy between our agencies has indeed led to this significant achievement leveraging on each other’s strength and expertise to drive national development,” Ogbonna said.
On her part, the Commander of NDLEA, Cross River State Command, Commander Rachael Umebuali, lauded the NCS for the collaborative effort in quality service delivery, stressing that, the synergy would go a long way in making their contributions more effective and service to Nigerians very efficient.
