Customs: Verify documents of imported vehicles before purchase

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has advised people to verify documents of imported vehicles before purchase.

Bukar Amajam, area controller, federal operation unit, in Owerri, gave the advice in an interview with NAN on Monday.

Amajam said Customs would confiscate goods or vehicles without genuine papers.

He said due to the actions of “unscrupulous agents”, unsuspecting buyers were usually served fake documents, thereby deceiving them to believe that their customs duties and levies were fully paid for.

This according to him has led to the confiscation of many new cars and by the agency.

Amajam said a sizable number of goods and vehicles that had been confiscated between September and October.

He said in the last two months, the zone seized a total of 41 contraband with duty paid value (DPV) worth N538.38 million and underpayment worth N57.31 million.

Among the illegal items intercepted were 1,306 pieces of empty gas cylinders with DPV worth N71.86 million, 5,733 bags of foreign rice valued at N146.76 million, and six vehicles with DPV of N48.49 million, all in Benin City.

Amajam said the seized items had been deposited at the NCS warehouses in Enugu, Calabar and Benin, and that 30 suspects, made up of drivers and conductors, had been detained in connection with the seizures.