Ifeanacho Ugbor, a 41-year-old traveler headed for Brazil, was detained by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) for possessing counterfeit $10,000.
According to a press release issued by Juliana Tomo, the public relations officer for the command, the suspect was taken into custody on November 10, 2023, for allegedly breaking the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act of Nigeria.
Tomo claims that Charles Orbih, the Customs Area Controller, said that the suspect was sent up to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) so that they may conduct more investigation.
“Considering section 15 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (As Amended) Act No 11, 2011 and Act No1, 2012, which entails the Money Laundering Offences, a passenger contravened a part of this section within our Jurisdiction. This passenger, named Ifeanacho Marcellinus Ugbor, is a 41-year-old Nigerian from Enugu State with a valid Nigerian passport No. B00033052 was scheduled to travel from Murtala Muhammad International Airport with the Ethiopian Airline (flight ET900) to Brazil on Friday, 10th November, 2023 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 were all counterfeit. The suspect was refrained from travelling and detained for further investigation.”
Orbih, however, stated that the arrest was possible because of the steadfastness and focus of the officers of the command.
“This achievement was as a result of due diligence of our officers. We have eagle eyes officers in this Command, they are ready to work 24 hours of the day and 7 days of the week combating all Customs related crimes and bringing to limelight the perpetrators.
“On Wednesday, 15th November, 2023, we, hereby, handover the sum of $10,000 counterfeited currency to the EFCC, the suspect, a valid Nigerian Standard passport No. B00033052, two phones and his baggage for further necessary action,” he stated.
