The Customs Area Comptroller Kwara State Command, Comptroller Kehinde Ilesanmi, has cautioned smugglers targeting to make illegal money this Yuletide season through border areas of the state to think twice as the command has been further equipped to thwart their efforts.

Ilesanmi gave this assurance while addressing a press conference at the command premises on Tuesday.

The Customs chief disclosed that N5.9 billion was generated between June and October 2023.

He warned smugglers on the sidelines of four additional Hilux vehicles that have been given for operations to stay away from the state or be prepared to meet their Waterloo.

According to him, no smugglers will escape from us in Kwara , particularly as we have been given four additional vehicles to increase our operations in border areas.

“I expect the beauty and functionality of these four brand new operational vehicles to start depreciating in the next couple of days; if not, then we are not working.

“We have been given these vehicles for further work, and we will follow smugglers to any ditch or gully and anywhere they go to arrest and recover illegal items from them.

“So, I want to warn those who want to use this yuletide period to make money by snuggling prohibited items to think twice as our officers have continued to dominate our areas of operations with aggressive patrols to deny smugglers freedom of action.

“The general public is thus encouraged to continue to provide credible information to the command through customs officers operating within their locality.”

Concerning revenue generation, the Comptroller said, From June to October 2023, the command generated the sum of N5,992,300,562.73, which surpasses what was generated in the same period last year (2022) with N307,517,623,49.

He further said that three suspects were arrested during the period under review, and the duty-paid value (DPV) of the seizure is N11,149,636.00.

The Comptroller also displayed two stolen vehicles—a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado Keep and a Toyota Hiace Bus—with the same registered FRSC vehicle numbers that were impounded by his officers during patrol.

He also restated that “the ban through border areas on importation of foreign rice, used vehicles, vegetable oil, second-hand clothing, used tires, and other dangerous drugs such as marijuana and tramadol is still in place, and the Nigeria Customs Service, Kwara Area Command, is committed to enforcing this without compromise.”