Customs Destabilises Illegal Rice Smugglers .Impounds 10,000 Bags Of Rice

A Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) anti-smuggling squad led by Chief Superintendent Yusfu Ahmed (CSC), has dealt a massive blow to some illegal rice importers, as his squad seized 10,000 bags of rice along the Badagry coastal water.

But he did not arrest any of the smugglers, a situation watcher of industry do not seem very proud about.

For years the Customs appeared to have been satisfied making seizures, but have failed to bring the underworld smugglers to book while smuggling appear to grow in seize and sophistication, day by day.

The Custom Comptroller-General’s Special Anti-Smuggling Squad, Western Zone, headed by Chief Superintended Ahmed Yusuf incidentally at a press briefing displayed over 10,000 bags of rice seized along Badagry –Lagos coastal water.

An elated Yusuf explained that customs surveillance activities along the Lagos Coastline within the metropolis and the suburbs had been rewarded recently when a patrol team intercepted and arrested a boat loaded with rice.

He disclosed that the big time seizure which valuation was yet to be determined as at press time was as a result of networking.

But despite its avowed war on smuggling, the NCS may have an uphill task explaining the mysterious disappearance of a certain smuggling kingpin in a huge seizure like that of Yusuf. Or where is the meeting point between the Customs and the smugglers kingpin.

All efforts to reach the Squad Coordinator, Deputy Comptroller Shallangwa Hassan, to comment on the issue in person or on the telephone proved abortive.

Nevertheless, many industry watchers posit that the matter follows a worrisome trend where often Customs claim to have impounded abandoned smuggled goods or to have intercepted and seized vehicle bearing smuggled goods, arresting the drivers, while the owners are said to have fled, and never ever to be found.