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By Oluseye Ojo
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted a Sino truck owned by one of the big players in the cement industry in Nigeria, which was used to smuggle 370 bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50 kilogrammes each into the country.
The Area Controller, Oyo/Osun Area Command, Joseph Olugbuyi Adelaja, who disclosed this during a press briefing in Ibadan, the headquarters of the command on Monday, put the duty paid value (DPV) of the 370 seized bags of rice at N100million.
The 370 bags were among the 2,030 bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50 kilogrammes each that were confiscated by the command within the past 17 days, with total DPV put at N223.3million.
Adelaja explained that the Sino truck was meant for conveying bags of cement. But it was used to carry the 370 bags of rice, which were carefully concealed in the truck and were covered with tarpaulins like cement. He said the eagle-eyed operatives of the command checked and found out that instead of bags of cement, the truck conveyed the bags of rice.
He advised truck owners to install trackers on their vehicles in order to monitor the locations of the means of conveyance with a.view to preventing embarrassment that their staff could cause for them.
The command also intercepted 28 bales of used clothes with DPV of N20,160,000; one bale of used shoes with DPV of N420,000; 28 pieces of of used refrigerator compressors with DPV of N1,764,000; eight units of used compressors of air conditioner with DPV of N252,000; 167 units of used tyres with DPV of N16,032,000; 167 kegs of Premium Motor Spirit of 25 litres each with DPV of N4,592,500; 660kilogrammes of cannabis saliva with DPV of N21,780,000; and three means of conveyance with DPV of N180,406,102, all totalling N468, 706,602.
“Notably, these foreign parboiled rice were concealed in three heavy-duty trucks . Unfortunately, these trucks were used to smuggle prohibited items. These illegal activities do not undermine the nation’s economic development, but also pose serious threat to the safety an well-being of our citizens,” he said.
Adelaja also warned “smugglers who persist in engaging in illegal activities tat are detrimental to the economic growth of our nation that the Oyo/Osun Area Command will leave no stone unturned to enforce necessary compliance to Customs laws.”
