Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled an attempt by a syndicate to steal at least N2.7bn from the Nigerian economy by pushing into circulation fake $4.7m cash.
The operatives had in the early hours of Friday 18th February 2022 intercepted a consignment sent from Lagos to Abuja at the Abaji area of the Federal Capital Territory.
Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, said on Sunday, in Abuja, that controlled delivery of the parcelled counterfeit US dollars totalling $4,760,000 led to the arrest of a principal suspect, 52-year-old Abdulmumini Maikasuwa.
“The seizure followed intelligence received by the FCT Command of the agency detailing the movement of the cash and the vehicle conveying it,” Babafemi said.
Meanwhile, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), has directed that both the cash and the suspect in custody be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for further investigation.
In Kwara State, barely three weeks after a nursing mother, Mrs Rashidat Adebayo, 38, was granted administrative bail following her arrest for dealing in illicit drugs, operatives have again arrested her in Offa with assorted drugs including Tramadol, Swinol, Diazepam and Pentazocine injection ampules.
Before her latest arrest on Thursday 17th February, the nursing mother had been arrested and granted bail on 24th January 2022 for dealing in similar drugs.
In the same vein, NDLEA officers have arrested two drug dealers: Sani Isa (aka Bilaz) and Bala Yerima in Hong, Adamawa State with 239 blocks of cannabis Sativa weighing 209kgs, just as operatives of the Bauchi State Command intercepted a truck marked FFF 422 XB coming from Lagos to Maiduguri, at Azare, Bauchi.
A total of 164.8kg of Cannabis Sativa concealed in peak milk cartons was recovered.
