Seizure of 214.7kg cocaine made possible by intelligence profiling

The discovery of the 200 parcels of cocaine recently found in a 17 by 20 feet container of Virgin Cellulose Tesman for cement from New Zealand, allegedly belonging to Nigerite Nigeria Limited and seized by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Tin-Can Island Port Command, was made possible by 42 days strategic planning and intelligence profiling, says Yusuf Bashar, Area Controller of the command.

This is against the back drop of the report making round that the seizure was made by officers and men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), who were duly invited by Customs to further investigate the seizure as required by law.

In a memo titled, preliminary investigation on 17x 20 Container No CMAU 045195/0 and sent to Hammed Ali, comptroller general of customs (CGC), Bashar said that the intercepted container was transferred to the Enforcement Unit of the Command for further investigation, and it was discovered that Elevation Transaction Limited was named as the Agent.

According to the memo, the Command later obtained extract from the station diary and generated Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA) print out to aid investigation even as the container remained detained for safe keeping.

Bashar further noted that the Command also obtained statement from the representative of Nigerite Limited under caution and conducted 100 percent physical examination of the container in the presence of the representatives of shipping company and the importer/agent.

“It was during the examination process that eight bags of 25 parcels of the cocaine each, was discovered alongside the imported goods inside the container. The suspected substance and the representative of Nigerite were then handed over to the officials of the NDLEA, after the agency had conducted a preliminary investigation on the substance which revealed that it was cocaine,” Bashar explained in the memo.

Further laboratory tests on the substance by the NDLEA, he added, confirmed that the item was actually cocaine and that it was the highest cocaine seizure ever recorded over the last decade.