London, May 2, 2018 (AltAfrika)-The Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Customs Service says its men have intercepted and seized 30 prohibited items with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N53.4 million in two weeks.

The items (which included 28 vehicles, 3,041 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 14 bags imported sugar, 295 kegs of vegetable oil, 211 kegs of PMS and 99 compressed book-size of Cannabis Sativa otherwise known as Indian Hemp) were seized at both Abeokuta and Idi Iroko axis of the Command.

Four suspects were arrested in connection with the smuggling of the prohibited items, with one having been arraigned at the Federal High Court, Abeokuta, for similar crime.

Briefing journalists at the Idiroko Border Office of NCS on Wednesday, the Comptroller of the Ogun State Area Command, Micheal Agbara, said the quantity of seized bags of rice will impact on the Federal Government policy on agricultural development, particularly in boosting local rice production.

The Comptroller added that in order to promote synergy towards effective and efficient service delivery by the Command, he had met with critical stakeholders and sister agencies in the southwestern state.

Agbara further disclosed that number of Customs checkpoints along Sango/Idi-Iroko border road have been reduced to facilitate international trade, as part of the Federal Government executive order on the ease of doing business in the country.