Realizing that the game was up, the duo confessed that they actually smuggled out the container but that along the line, they could not agree again on the terms of disposal. The container, which has been confiscated, is now in the custody of Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, Lagos, awaiting the arrival of the true owner of the truck. Also in the same month, police detectives arrested an auctioneer, simply known as Barnabas, who had successfully smuggled out a container load of electronics which he claimed was sold to him by Customs officials.
Bubble, however, burst when the actual owner got wind of the theft and reported the matter to the police who traced Barnabas and the container close to Ibafo, Ogun State on his way to the East to dispose of it. At SARS, Barnabas maintained that he got the authority from Customs to move the container which was abandoned for years. The owner, one Mr. Felix wondered why Customs should auction his container, without his consent while Barnabas maintained that he spent more than N2 million to secure the container and is demanding that Mr. Felix should refund him the said amount or be ready to share the proceeds.
The case, Saturday Sun learnt, has since been transferred to Zone two police command in Lagos State for further investigation. These two cases are few out of the several cases of missing containers as reported by individuals in recent time. Saturday Sun investigations revealed several modus operandi employed by the syndicates behind the disappearances of containers from the ports.
According to a police chief in Apapa police division, a container can be diverted in transit; trans loaded by criminals or actually removed from the port with the aid of a clearing agent and collusion of other law enforcement agents operating in the port.
According to the security source, “all the various methods are done with the aid of an informant. As soon as the container has been cleared and assigned to a transporter, the informant would quickly alert his men of the route and vehicle number of the target. The hijackers who normally disguise themselves in army or mobile police uniform would easily stop the conveyor. They will hijack the truck to an unknown destination, after they had discharged the content; they will release both the driver and the empty container.
“On the diversion, it’s between the driver and the transporter company who have ready buyers waiting to take over the goods. They simply sell to a criminal receiver and claim that the container was stolen. They will meet at an arranged point and trans-load the container. And in some other cases, it would be between the driver and conductor and done at the expense of the transport company which would be held responsible. “A similar case was reported at Festac police station in 2011, where a woman known as Aladi Ikani and three others who specialized in diverting goods from the wharf unknowingly diverted a container that belongs to Nestle Nigeria. As soon as the company alerted the police, they tracked them to Ogba while they were trying to empty the container in a warehouse.
“At the police station, they confessed that they mistakenly moved the wrong container. According to one of the suspects, Michael, he was contracted by a Customs officer as a driver to transport contraband or seized containers to their depot at Ikorodu where it will be finally auctioned. According to him, one of the containers would be earmarked by a suspected customs official and advise the driver to divert the product to another location. Since the container was actually smuggled out, the suspected customs agent at the end of the day will secretly sell off the product. Because that very container was deliberately omitted, the suspected customs agent will not raise alarm. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong container.”
The police chief further explained that the actual diversion is between a clearing agent, receiver and transporter with the consent of a Customs official. “When a particular container is earmarked for stealing, the original clearing agent is expected to be in possession of the actual bill of laden. The clearing agent would give a sample of the bill to another agent who will clo it. Meanwhile, the clearing agent would deliberately delay the processing of his container, the other agent with cloned documents would quickly process the release of the container by presenting the control number to Customs officials.
“Shortly after the container would have been cleared, the real agent will appear. We have received several complaints in Apapa in recent time and each time we investigate, you discover that every document presented is fake except the control number. It would be easy to detect if Customs officials would go an extra mile in investigating each clearing agent.” A clearing agent and Managing Director of Cormuta Services, Mr. Michael Ukiwe, said the issue of missing container in the Wharf is no more possible because of the concessioning of the port. He noted that before it was very easy and possible for containers to disappear in Wharf.
“That was when we were doing things as Nigerians and anyhow, there were no proper records or documentations”, he said. He stated that for a container to get missing, the Bill of laden must have got into the hand of another person. But now that everything is done electronically, it is not very possible for containers to get missing, as they are tracked on arrival. According to him, what is now possible and rampant is diversion of containers. “The way they do it is that when a container is cleared and being hauled to its destination, some people can connive and arrange it to be diverted to another destination. “ Again, in the night around Mile Two area, robbers have diverted containers to some points and opened them and evacuated the contents and flee before daybreak.” He said the government can start to seize a container that has stayed over 120 days to discourage importers turning the seaports to their warehouses or dumping ground. On the possibility of stealing of containers from the port, a senior official of Nigeria Customs and Excise, who pleaded anonymity, said it is possible if the Bill of lading gets into the hands of criminals who would connive with Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) officials and use forged documents. According to him, it is no more rampant these days because of the inability of NPA officials to collaborate with dubious agents, adding that the agent might run into the wrong person who would expose him.
The Customs official narrated the process of clearing goods at the wharf. His words: “The owner of the container or agent presents the Bill of lading and pro-forma invoice of the goods. If it is through the CBN Form M, he will go to destination inspectors who will give their own assessment known as Risk Assessment Report. With the pro-forma invoice, you go to Trade and Import (DTI) to do declaration of the goods. Thereafter, you proceed to any designated bank to make your payment. The bank will trigger (credit) the Customs account. You then take the bill of lading to any Customs Process Center (CPC) where your container was off loaded or designated and meet the Technical Assistant Supervisor (TAS) who after examination the container will be released.” As at press time, efforts to speak with the Customs Public Relations Officer, Apapa port command, Emmanuel Ekpa on the development proved abortive.
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