The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old man, (name withheld) suspected to be working for an international criminal organisation.
The agency said through a statement by its Head of Public Affairs, Ofoyeju Mitchell, that the suspect was in possession of 108 automatic teller machine (ATM) debit cards.
According to the agency, the arrest took place at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos while the suspect was attempting to board a Qatar Airline flight to China.
“The debit cards belong to five commercial banks,’’ the agency said.
It quoted its commander at the Lagos airport, Mr Ahmadu Garba, as saying that the suspect was arrested in connection with alleged money laundering.
The agency also added that the suspect was immediately transferred to the Assets and Financial Investigation Directorate of the Agency for investigation.
“First City Monument Bank (FCMB) had the highest number of cards with 58. Stanbic IBCT Bank has 23 cards, Zenith Bank 19, Fidelity Bank 6 and Diamond Bank 2.
“Mrs Victoria Egbase, the Director of Assets and Financial Investigation, said that the Agency had established a prima facie case of financial crime against the suspect,’’ it said.
It said that the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, had ordered the transfer of the case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation.
The agency quoted the suspect as saying in his statement that he was asked to take the cards to China.
