PTML Customs hand over N29.4bn cocaine seizure

The Nigeria Customs Service, Ports and Terminal Multiservice Limited, on Tuesday, handed over N29.4bn worth of cocaine to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

Addressing journalists at the command during the handover ceremony, the Customs Area Controller in charge of the command, Joe Anani, said that the contraband was discovered in an empty container that came from Sierra Leone.

According to him, on 7th October 2025, the terminal operator brought to the attention of the command that, in the process of disinfecting 39 empty containers brought into the country for the loading of export consignments, it discovered some suspicious items in a 20ft container with registration number GCNU1332851.

He stressed that the preliminary investigation, relying on the history of the container’s movement obtained from the terminal operator, showed that the container was loaded on a vessel as an empty container at the last port of call, which was Freetown in Sierra Leone.

He explained that the command immediately conducted a joint examination on the container with sister government agencies, including the NDLEA, Department of State Services, Police Anti-Bomb Squad, among others.

“A total of 50 packages containing 20 parcels each were found inside the container. Rapid tests conducted on the substances found in the container tested positive for cocaine, and it was jointly weighed with officers of the NCS and NDLEA.

“The total weight of the substance was found to be 1000kg (1 tonne). The duty-paid value of the cocaine stands at N29.4bn. Furthermore, all other containers jointly examined by all other port agencies were empty,” he said.

The CAC added that no arrest was made as there was no consignee for the container arriving in Nigeria since it did not come as an import. “The terminal operators brought it empty to be used for the conveyance of export goods,” he stressed.

Anani emphasised that the seizure marks the first illicit drug seizure in PTML’s history and is one of the most mysterious cocaine interceptions in the service’s record.

“Secondly, these illicit drugs did not come into the country as an import consignment. The container where the seizure was made was brought in by the terminal operator for export use. The discovery was first made by the PTML Terminal, which alerted us to the unusual packages laden in a purported empty container from Sierra Leone,” Anani said.

He highlighted that the seizure further underscores the cooperation and collaboration the command enjoys with the terminal operator and other sister agencies, including the NDLEA, the Police, DSS, and others.

Anani commended the PTML Terminal for promptly reporting the infraction and for its continued cooperation with security agencies throughout the investigation.

The PTML Customs boss reaffirmed his commitment to collaborating with all port agencies to safeguard the nation’s ports and ensure the integrity of export trade.

He warned port users and stakeholders that the command will continually be a no-go area for items prohibited from import and export, and shall continue to uncover them in the course of its duties.

Speaking after receiving the contraband, the Strategic Commander, NDLEA, Tincan Port Command, Daniel Onyishi, thanked the officers of the NCS and NDLEA for their quick response.

“It is really mysterious because, in the security balance, on our duty, tour, and experience, we have not had such a thing. But the investigation has already commenced, and we are working on that,” he said.

He vowed that the NDLEA would do everything within its powers to unravel the source of the contraband. “And I know that, based on the things we have put in place, we are going to unravel, to the extent, the source and how it came to this spot,” Onyishi said.

PTML Command of the NCS is one of the frontline commands of the service tasked with import duties, cargo clearance, enforcement of trade regulation (including anti-smuggling), and facilitation of legitimate trade. The Command has been used as a pilot/flagship zone for some of the NCS’s major reforms, especially digital systems and trade-facilitation measures.