The Nigeria Customs Service,NCS, has seized 18 smuggled exotic cars from an Abuja-based car dealer., 13 of which are bullet-proof.
Comptroller-General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (retd), told journalists in Abuja, yesterday, that the importer did not obtain clearance from the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, before the importation.
He said: “On Saturday, September 16, 2017, based on credible information, the detachment of the Compliance Team visited Kefiano Motors Limited in the Central Business Area of Abuja and discovered 18 suspected smuggled exotic vehicles that were displayed for sale.”
According to him, the NCS has 265 smuggled cars that have been seized in the last two months. Details of the 18 cars seized from the Abuja car stand on Saturday include one Tools Royce, two Range Rover, four Lexus, three G-Wagon, two Toyota Prado SUVs , one Lincon Navigator, one Infinity, one 4matic, two Toyota Sequoia and one Toyota Camry.The C-G said the importer, who claimed to have genuine documents to prove he paid the required duties, had been asked to present them for verification.
He said failure to make good his claims would lead to his arrest and prosecution.
Why importers of bullet proof cars need NSA’s permission
End User Certificate (EUC) is compulsorily required for the importation of all controlled items intothe country. The certificate is issued by only the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA. Controlled items include: arms and ammunition of all kinds (lethal and non-lethal); all forms of bullet proof materials, including vehicles, vests, ballistic materials and bullion vans among others.
EUCs are issued to prevent such items from being diverted within the buyer country or re-exported under undesirable conditions and thus find their ways into illicit market.
EUC tracks the shipment of controlleditems to ensure that the buyer is the actual recipient of the items and to certify that there are no plans to transfer them to other parties.
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