The Nigeria Customs Service, Cross River/Calabar Free Trade Zone/Akwa Ibom Area Command, has intercepted prohibited goods worth N273.68 million in a series of anti-smuggling operations carried out across the command’s area of responsibility.

Briefing journalists in Calabar on Wednesday, the Area Comptroller, Momodu Dauda, said the seizures covered a range of items including foreign refined vegetable oil, imported used tyres, second-hand clothing, and Premium Motor Spirit.

The most significant operation occurred on June 14, 2026, when patrol officers along the Odukpani-Calabar Highway intercepted a truck conveying two 20-foot containers. The driver and his motor boy fled the vehicle upon sighting the officers and have remained at large. A search of the abandoned truck uncovered 1,996 kegs of 25-litre foreign refined vegetable oil with a Duty Paid Value of N195.5 million.

Other items seized within the same period included 1,500 imported used tyres valued at N61.39 million, 105 jumbo-sized rolls of second-hand clothing worth N15.63 million, and 800 litres of Premium Motor Spirit valued at N1.15 million bringing the command’s total petrol seizures for 2026 to approximately 5,760 litres.

Dauda noted that all recovered items are listed on the Federal Government’s Import Prohibition List, adding that their circulation poses serious risks to public health, local industries, and the national economy.

He warned that the command would continue to deploy intelligence-driven operations against smuggling and urged members of the public to provide timely information to support customs enforcement efforts.