Customs Arrests Man with $1.9m Cash at Lagos Airport

Nigerian Customs Service (NCS)  officials have arrested a passenger with $1,909,140 (about N305 million) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (NMIA), Lagos.

The passenger, identified as Mr. Ani Paulinus  Onyeka, was arrested during a routine search on  his luggage where he concealed the money that he did not declare to Customs officials at the currency desk on arrival in Nigeria.

The Customs said his non-declaration of the exact amount he came into the country with violated extant regulations on the movement of large sums of foreign currencies into Nigeria.

Customs Public Relations Officer, Airport Command, Mrs, Thelma Williams, told journalists yesterday in Lagos, that Onyeka came into the country aboard an Asky Airlines flight from Congo Democratic Republic (CDR).

According to her,  the passenger did not declare the exact amount he concealed in his luggage, which was discovered after a physical examination by Customs personnel at the baggage hall of the airport.

“During the inward clearance of Asky flight, No KP 041 from Congo  Democratic Republic on  February 9, 2014, at 12:30hrs; one Mr. Ani Paulinus Onyeka, with a Nigerian passport No A00923933, upon normal routine examination, his luggage was found to contain the sum of $1,620,000  carefully concealed.    
 
“On physical counting of the money, it was discovered to be $1,909,140 as against $1,620,000 earlier discovered when the passenger was apprehended .

“The passenger and the said currency have been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives for further investigation,” she said.