Smugglers Used Caskets, Gas Cylinders to Smuggle Rice into Nigeria

• Smugglers Used Caskets, Gas Cylinders to Smuggle Rice into Nigeria

Smugglers of contraband items have devised a new means of beating Nigeria Customs Service, according to a new report from the service.

Mr Joseph Attah, the Public Relations Officer, NCS, said the criminals or smugglers were able to bring contraband items into the country through unfathomable methods or unapproved routes.

“People often ask where were customs operatives when contraband goods entered the country without being stopped.

“We have seen a situation where rice is smuggled using gas cylinders or a situation where a spare tyre is used. The tyre is perforated and rice is loaded inside and when you open the booth you see what is supposed to be a tyre.

“If you do not have a tip-off, you are not likely to know that inside that spare tyre are 10 or 15 mudus (measures) of foreign rice.

“Another circumstance, smugglers use casket that is used to carry a corpse to either smuggle rice or petrol. They sometimes load petro in jerry cans and put it inside a casket, wrapped in such a way that you think is carrying a dead body.

“A situation like this, if you don’t have intelligence, you wouldn’t know. For instance, without a tip-off, it is unlikely as a human being to accost a vehicle carrying the casket with a supposed dead body and request for such to be opened.

“If people with all these tricks succeed and escape, their smuggled items are what you find in shops, markets, and houses,’’ he explained.

He added that the actions of these criminals were hurting the economy and exposed the nation to all kinds of danger.

However, he said the service had fortified its intelligence to checkmate smugglers and strengthen the nation’s security.