Customs to deploy drones to tackle rice smuggling
- Drones will soon be deployed by the Nigeria Customs Service, to tackle the problem of rice smuggling into the country
- The NCS is also looking into partnering with the Nigeria Air Force in order to improve aerial anti-smuggling efforts
- The Service has urged border communities to assist by providing necessary information to tackle the problem
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) will adopt high technology strategies, including deployment of drones in order to combat the smuggling of prohibited goods, including rice, into the country.
The development was made public on Monday, June 25, at the organisation’s headquarters in Abuja, by the deputy comptroller general in charge of investigations, Alhaji Aminu Dangaladima, Vanguard reports.
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Legit.ng gathers that the DIG also added that the NCS was also looking into partnering with the Nigeria Air Force in order to improve aerial anti-smuggling efforts.
He stated: “We are thinking of having drones and bringing in the Air Force. We are also thinking of having unmanned aerial vehicles; these are drones, and others that can assist us. This will go a long way in assisting us to combat smuggling. This is in progress.”
Dangaladima also appealed to border communities to provide necessary information to the NCS to tackle the smuggling problem.
He said: “While thanking the media for their continuous support, let me appeal to the general public, especially the border community dwellers to support the Service by providing useful information on smuggling activities around their communities."
Massive smuggling has been noticed from neighboring countries; and the federal government had previously threatened to close its land borders with those countries.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Operations Unit, Zone B, intercepted 1,825 bags of foreign rice and other commodities from smugglers in Katsina state in May 2018.
The controller of the unit, Alhaji Usman Dakingari, made this known in Katsina. He said that the Service seized 35 vehicles used by the smugglers in bringing the commodities into the country.
Dakingari also said that the Service impounded 1,175 bags of sugar; 1,750 cartons of spaghetti; and 98 jerry cans of vegetable oil during the period under review.
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Source: Legit.ng
