Smuggled petroleum products hidden in plastic bags

 Bassey Anthony, Uyo

WHY do smugglers find petroleum products irresistible? Despite security clampdown, they keep moving them, concealed in  vessels the ordinary eye may overlook.

On Tuesday, officials of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) in  Akwa Ibom State said they intercepted smugglers who hid vast amounts of adulterated diesel  in carefully packed plastic bags.

They seized the bags, they said, and handed them over to the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

IPMAN’s head of operations on petroleum crimes,  Sunday Pooh Ekwi while handing over the products  to the Area Commandant of the NSCDC, Oron zone, Mrs Iniobong Edidiong Ekong yesterday,  said the adulterated diesel was concealed in plastic bags to avoid detection.

Ekwi said the smugglers were arrested by his men along Atiku Abubakar Avenue by Ube Street in Uyo, the state capital, following a tip-off.

“Petroleum smugglers have devised new methods in their nefarious activities by concealing drums of adulterated petroleum products in small improvised plastic bags so as to beat security men,” Mr Ekwi said.

“Acting on intelligence, my men swooped on the smugglers in a hideout along Atiku Abubakar Avenue and in an attempt to call the police for assistance, they escaped with a Toyota Camry salon car with registration number AE 761 AFG.”

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Ekwi said IPMAN is in the state to eradicate petroleum crimes.

“We are determined to assist law enforcement agencies in the state to fight petroleum crimes because it is an act of sabotage against the Federal government and an injury to our economy,” Ekwi said.

He stressed that adulteration and smuggling of petroleum products is very common in the riverine areas of the state because of the terrain and that his team will soon embark on awareness campaign among fishermen communities on the dangers of dealing with adulterated petroleum products.

Receiving the items which included some 25 litre gallons of adulterated diesel, 32 improvised plastic bags container, buckets and other materials, Edidiong said, “We commend the effort of IPMAN barely a month in the state in assisting law enforcement agencies in fighting petroleum crimes and do wish to assure that you will continue to have our support.”

Edidiong called on IPMAN monitoring team to always liaise with security agencies for backup and to ensure that they carry out their duties within the confines of the law.