BREAKING: — Lagos Nigeria (04/02/2020): – The Nigeria Customs has taken possession of eight million dollars ($8,000,000) the equivalent of three billion, ten million naira (N3,010,000,000) at the Lagos Airport on Tuesday.
This is the first major cash seizure happening in the country since the beginning of the new year 2020.
The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Rtd Colonel Hameed Ali, made the disclosure during a press conference on Tuesday.
According to the Comptroller, the cash was concealed in brown envelopes and stashed in a car about to be loaded into an aircraft.
One person has been arrested in connection to the case. The driver of the vehicle, a staff of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) was arrested at the airport.
No other accomplices have been named in connection to the case, but the Comptroller said the identities of the people traced to the funds would be revealed.
“From the day we seized this money, no bank has come to claim ownership. But our investigation will reveal the mystery behind the owners,” he said.
Nigeria’s Anti-Money Laundry laws prohibit moving large sums of cash without involving a bank, and travelers are prohibited from carrying beyond three thousand dollars ($3,000) on them without a declaration.
