Nigeria Customs Service Comptroller in charge of Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Command, Jayne Shoboiki, has said the command has so far arraigned five suspects before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly smuggling cargo out of the port without paying duty. Shoboiki who made this known in Lagos on Sunday, said she took pains to ensure the accused were actually charged to court, wondering why some people would want to smuggle out cargoes without paying duty.
“The culprits were locked up, taken to court but now they are on bail and the case comes up again in October because the judges are on annual vacation.
“I dragged them to court to serve as a deterrent to others to understand that whenever anybody do the wrong thing, the law will catch up with such a person,’’ Shoboiki said. She noted that the command was able to generate N29.12 billion in the first six months of 2019, up from the figure recorded in the same period of 2018.
“The Federal Government’s Foreign Policy mandated any person traveling out of the country to declare any amount in excess of $10,000 dollars or equivalent in any other currency on Customs Currency Declaration form,’’ Shoboiki said.