See two Nigerian drug-traffickers caught with N175m (photos)
– Two suspected drug traffickers were arrested with hard currency in Lagos airport
– The duo claimed the money were given to them to be delivered to some people in Nigeria
– The NDLEA insisted that the source of the money will be verified accordingly
Two suspected drug-traffickers, Edos Nicholas and Hallowell Prince Lovely have been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) after they were caught with €325,640 and $30,000, which is about N175 million.
According to Sahara reporters, the duo was arrested while trying to smuggle the hard currency into Nigeria from Greece and Austria through Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
Edos Nicholas
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Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju who is the spokesperson of the NDLEA confirmed the arrest of the suspect while Ahmadu Garba who is the commander of the NDLEA in Lagos said an inward search of passengers.
“During the inward screening of passengers on a Turkish flight, we discovered €325,640 and $30,000. Two suspects, Edos Nicholas, found in possession of €279,190, and Hallowell Prince Lovely, found in possession of €46,450 and $30,000, were also apprehended.”
The money was found hidden inside shoes and envelope as Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah who is the chief executive of the anti-narcotic agency as directed the Director of Assets and Financial Investigation of the Agency, Mrs. Victoria Egbase, to take over the investigation.
He noted that it was not uncommon for criminals to try to hide their money and smuggle it into the country especially when the origin of it was shady.
Hallowell Prince
He hinted that preliminary investigation showed that the two suspects were targets of international drug trafficking organizations and the agency would try to verify the source of the money.
He said that Nicholas claimed to be working in a bakery in Austria, but confessed that people in Austria gave him the money.
The money seized from the suspects
He said: “The money does not belong to me. I was given it by different people in Europe to give to their relatives. I have been living in Vienna, Austria for over fifteen years.”
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The other suspect, Lovely also said the money did not belong to him but to some people in Nigeria who he was asked to deliver it to.
“I live in Athens and I work in an African shop. I have lived there for twelve years. The money belongs to many people and some of them are my friends.”
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