A 41-year-old man, Ifeanacho Marcellinus Ugbor, has been arrested by the men of the Nigeria Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for allegedly being in possession of fake $10,000.
The Informant247 gathered that 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 No. B00033052.
Charles Orbihi, the Customs Area Controller, MMIA Command, Ikeja, Comptroller, while confirming the arrest, 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 No1, 2012, adding that the passenger contravened a part of the section within, which according to him is with the jurisdiction of the Service.
“This passenger, IFEANACHO MARCELLINUS UGBOR, is a forty-one (41) years 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, 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.
“This achievement was as a 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 limelight 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.