Officers of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, of the Nigeria Customs Service have arrested a 41-year-old man, Ifeanacho Marcellinus Ugbor, for allegedly being in possession of fake $10,000.
According to a blog post in Nigeria News today The suspect was arrested while trying to board an Ethiopian airline (flight ET900) to Brazil on Friday, November 10, 2023. At the time of his arrest, the suspect had a valid Nigerian passport with the number B00033052.
The Customs Area Controller, MMIA Command, Ikeja, Comptroller Charles Orbihi, said aside from being fake, the action of the suspect violates section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (As Amended) Act No. 11, 2011 and Act No. 1, 2012,
The controller said the passenger contravened a part of the section within, which, according to him, is within the jurisdiction of the service.
“This passenger, named IFEANACHO MARCELLINUS UGBOR, is a forty-one (41)-year-old Nigerian from Enugu State with a valid Nigerian Standard passport No. B00033052 who was scheduled to travel from Murtala Muhammad International Airport with the Ethiopian Airline (flight ET900) to Brazil on Friday, November 10, 2023, and was suspected to have contravened the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of Nigeria.
“The above-named suspect, having declared the sum of $10,000 USD on our Currency Declaration Form, our officers took a step further to examine the currency in line with Section 66 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, and they (officers) discovered that the sum of $10,000 United States dollars was all counterfeit. The suspect refrained from traveling and was detained for further investigation.
“This achievement was the result of the due diligence of our officers. We have eagle-eyed officers in this command; they are ready to work for twenty-four (24) hours of the day and seven (7) days of the week (24/7) combating all customs-related crimes and bringing to light the perpetrators.
“We hereby hand over the sum of $10,000 USD counterfeited currency to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the suspect, a valid Nigerian Standard passport No. B00033052, two phones, and his baggage for further necessary action,” he said.