Customs in Kano impounds 250 bags of rice concealed in fuel tanker

Photo; The smuggled rice being offloaded from the tanker

The Kano/Jigawa Command of the Nigerian Customs Service 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.

The comptroller of the command, Nasir Ahmed, displayed the seized tanker and the rice to journalists, saying the new method of concealing goods by smugglers was alien

“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 intelligence and diligence of our men, they were able to perceive it,” he said.

Mr Ahmed said keeping rice or any other consumable in such condition has some serious health implications in addition to economic sabotage and security risks it poses to the nation.

He called on the people to support and complement the effort of the federal government by desisting from patronizing smuggled goods