The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
has arrested a passenger for attempting to
smuggle out 23 wraps containing $34,000 to
Brazil.
This was contained in a statement by the Head,
Public Affairs of NDLEA, Mr Mitchell Ofoyeju,
on Friday in Lagos.
The statement said the passenger, Ozoh
Ikenna, was arrested at the Murtala
Mohammed International Airport, Lagos,
during the screening of passengers boarding
Etihad Airways flight to Abu Dhabi.
It said the money was packed in wraps and
concealed in Ikenna’s boxer shorts.
According to the statement, the NDLEA airport
commander, Mr Ahmadu Garba, said the
arrest was facilitated with the aid of a scanning
machine.
“The wraps of dollars found on Ikenna were
detected with the aid of scanning machine.
“We also conducted a follow-up operation
where one Ogbo Emmanuel, who gave Ozoh
the $34,000 was arrested,” the commander is
quoted as saying.
The statement said investigation conducted by
the NDLEA’s Assets and Financial Investigation
Directorate revealed that the suspects were
involved in the laundering of substantial
amount of illicit drug proceeds.
“We were able to trace over N226m to one
bank account belonging to the second suspect,
Ogbo Emmanuel.
“The account name is Eternal God International
Limited,” the head of the directorate, Mrs
Victoria Egbase, is quoted as saying.
According to the statement, it was also
discovered that suspected drug proceeds were
regularly deposited in the said bank account by
members of an international drug cell that
smuggles cocaine from South America to West
Africa.
The statement quoted NDLEA’s Chairman, Mr
Ahmadu Giade, as saying that the Agency was
strategically targeting criminal wealth.
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