NDLEA arrests Brazil-bound passenger with $34,000 in underwear

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.