The Nigeria Customs Service has seized expired food items, unregistered medicines, and restricted security equipment worth over N921 billion at the Apapa Port in Lagos.
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, revealed this during a press briefing at the Apapa Command.
He said the seizures were made between January and April 2025 in 11 different operations. These included five 40-foot containers, two 20-foot containers, and four other seizures involving smuggled goods hidden in unusual ways.
Adeniyi raised alarm over the rising number of illegal pharmaceutical products and restricted items like drones entering the country. He warned that these pose serious threats to national security and public health.
“Among the seized items were unregistered medicines lacking mandatory certification from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), expired margarine products, and restricted security gadgets including drones and telecommunication devices without end-user certificates from the Office of the National Security Adviser,” he said.
Among the seizures were 89 cartons of unregistered pharmaceutical products in container CAAU6514500, 242 cartons in container TCNU6880130, and 1,001 cartons of hydra-sildenafil citrate tablets in container MRSU3041714. Another 40-foot container carried 1,400 packages of various unregistered drugs, while a fifth had 805 wrongly declared packages labelled as cosmetic powder.
Two 20-foot containers, GCNU1367992 and GCNU1372704, were found with expired margarine. From container MSKU9329923, customs recovered 60 units of warrior drones valued at N15.9 million. Another container marked CFAX3 held 53 helicopter drones worth N2.1 million. Ten walkie-talkies were seized from ENL, and container SUDU1408819 had 500 packages of uncertified active medicine tablets.
Adeniyi explained that the seizures exposed five worrying smuggling patterns. First, the growing importation of sexual enhancement drugs, with five of the 11 containers containing versions of sildenafil citrate. Second, many drugs were mislabelled as cosmetics to avoid detection. Third, some containers held mixed items like expired food, pharmaceuticals, and security devices, suggesting coordinated efforts by criminal networks. Fourth, some shipments came from countries with weak export controls, and fifth, there was a rise in importing restricted security gadgets like drones and communication tools.
He warned about the health risks of using sexual enhancement drugs without medical advice. “The indiscriminate use of these drugs without medical supervision could lead to serious health complications, including cardiovascular risks,” he said.
Adeniyi also spoke about the rollout of Customs’ new digital platform, B’Odogwu, at PTML and Tin Can Island ports. He said his earlier visit was to understand the challenges users were facing.
“We are not pretending that when we roll out a very serious project of that magnitude that there will be no itches,” he said.
He promised that Customs would continue working with stakeholders and financial institutions to resolve issues in the new system.
He added that these recent interceptions are part of a bigger operation. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Customs recorded 22 drug-related seizures worth N730 billion, a 34.6 percent increase from the same period in 2024.
Adeniyi praised the Apapa Command for their professionalism and urged all importers and exporters to follow legal procedures. He also announced that the area around the seized pharmaceutical containers would be restricted for safety reasons.
