Shady Businessmen Get Caught Smuggling Plastic Rice Into Nigeria

BBC – Nigeria has confiscated 2.5 tonnes of “plastic rice” smuggled into the country by unscrupulous businessmen, the customs service says.

Lagos customs chief Haruna Mamudu said the fake rice was intended to be sold in markets during the festive season.

He said the rice was very sticky after it was boiled and “only God knows what would have happened” if people ate it.

It is not clear where the seized bags came from but rice made from plastic pellets was found in China last year.

Rice is the most popular staple food in Nigeria.

This isn’t the first time that fake rice has been on my radar. But every time I see a video of fake rice being manufactured, most of the people in the comments are saying “you’re idiots if you really think that this is fake rice being manufactured.” I certainly didn’t want to be considered an idiot by an anonymous stranger half way around the world, so I immediately dropped the issue and pushed it out of my mind. This was the video I saw, and it looked crazy, but I figured there had to be a good reason that this shirtless man was dumping mint wrappers into an archaic mechanical device, and that it was just something worldly and cool that I didn’t know about.

Now, with all that finally out of my mind, I get blindsided by hearing that they’re shipping fake rice in an out of Nigeria? AND ON CHRISTMAS? I am as pissed off as the customs official who reported on the act, if not quite as eloquent.

The customs official called on “economic saboteurs who see yuletide season as a peak period for their nefarious acts to desist from such illegal” business activity.

We need that guy on B-Boy Stance, cause he really knows how to cram cool-sounding words into a sentence, but I digress.

I really didn’t know that they were making fake rice in the world. And honestly, who knew there was a cheaper way to make rice? As far as I know/can tell, rice is the cheapest, nothingest food-stuff on the planet. Why would you need to manufacture a cheaper version? How could there even be a cheaper version? I’m not big on Nigerian food, especially Nigerian food in Nigeria, but I’d be lying if I said this doesn’t dissuade me from ordering some Chinese food from my local A1 China House. I want to enjoy my food, but I’m too worried that all I’m getting is cats and mice and plastic rice (which, by the way, rhymes really well. Cats and mice and plastic rice. Say it out loud. Enjoy the words in your mouth. Cats and mice and plastic rice. Wasn’t that special?).

Well I want this to be an awareness blog. Keep a keen eye out for the fake shit, cause they’re trying to slip it by you. Here’s a quick guide on how to spot fake rice.