The National Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind of the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Kehinde Ejibunu, on Thursday, announced the seizure of 26,950 litres of petroleum products being smuggled out of the country into the Republic of Benin.
The seizure is said to be worth N19m.
Ejibunu said that the petroleum products which consist of 978 kegs of 25 litres totalling 26,950 litres were impounded in Zone A of the NCS consisting of Lagos and Ogun states under two weeks.
He said that the special squad was set up two weeks ago by the Comptroller-General of the NCS, Bashir Adeniyi to add bite to efforts aimed at cracking down on the criminals smuggling petroleum products outside the country.
Ejibunu disclosed this on Thursday at a press briefing held at the Ogun State Command office of NCS, Abeokuta, the state capital.
The customs officer said that the activities of smugglers usually aid the artificial scarcity of petroleum products in the country forcing the prices to go up for as much as N900 per litre.
“In just about two weeks of operation, the Operation Whirlwind team, Zone A axis intercepted 26,950 litres of premium motor spirit worth N19m,” he said.