The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted a petrol tanker in which 358 50kg bags of rice were being conveyed.
The Adamawa/Taraba Zonal Command headquarters of the NCS in Yola which displayed the tanker and offloaded some of the bags of rice, said intelligence information led to the discovery that the tanker was carrying rice and not the petrol that would normally be assumed.
Comptroller Olaniyi Alajogun, who heads the Adamawa/Taraba Zonal Command of the NCS, said using petrol tanker to carry rice is a deceptive method that fraudsters now use.
Alajogun said of the seized tanker and its rice content: “From all indications, the tanker was never used to carry petrol. Even after bringing out the rice, there was no hint that the bags were concealed in a tanker. I think what they do now is to construct tankers purposely to smuggle rice.
“So, it’s not every vehicle designed as a fuel tanker that carries fuel. This particular tanker (the seized one), I don’t think it ever carries fuel.”
Among other contraband items displayed as seized by the Zonal Command from August this year when Alajogun assumed control of the Adamawa/Taraba zone, include 531 50kg urea fertiliser, and 29,385 litres of Petroleum products comprising and petrolatum diesel.
The others were 2,600 litres of foreign engine oil, 168 bales and 23 sacks of used clothing, six used vehicles, 75 cartons of foreign soap, 165kg of pangolin scales, and three sacks of used shoes, among others.
The Customs Zonal controller put the total duty paid value of the seized items at N144, 627, 737; explaining that due to the inflammable nature of the Petroleum products, they were sold off at N12.5 million and the money deposited into the federation account.
