Customs Impounds Fuel Tanker Used To Smuggle 250 Bags Of Rice - Photos

The Nigerian Customs Service, Kano/Jigawa command on Friday impounded 250 bags of foreign rice concealed in a fuel tanker along Daura-Kano road, worth over N5.5m of duty paid value.

Displaying the seized tanker and the rice, the controller of the command, Comptroller Nasir Ahmed, said the new method of concealing goods by smugglers was new and challenging.

“What we saw today is a little bit new, something that is challenging to our thinking. If somebody can load rice in a compartment that is supposed to be containing diesel, petrol or kerosene, then we should assume that they can conceal anything in the tank.

“It can contain Tramadol, it can contain arms and ammunition or any other prohibited goods, and they loaded it in such a way that it will be very difficult to detect. But through the intelligence and diligence of our men, they were able to perceive it,” he said.

Ahmed added that keeping rice or any other consumable in such condition has some serious health implications in addition to the security threats the new method of smuggling was posing to the nation.

He called on the general public to support and complement the effort of the federal government by desisting from patronizing such smuggled goods and giving useful information to the relevant security agencies.

It will be recalled that in August, the federal government of Nigeria closed its borders against Niger, Benin Republic and some African countries, this is done to curtail smuggling that the border is known for. There has been pressure on Nigeria's President to re-open the border as it greatly affects these neighbouring whose business has been put on hold all thanks to the amount of smuggling they do on these borders. 

Smugglers have been going creative to find a way to beat the security check-ups at the borders and all check points, one of the many ways they devised is loading rice in a fuel tanker without considering the health implications to the public.