By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has intercepted $193,000 undeclared foreign currency concealed in a carton of yoghurt at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
This was disclosed in a statement by Abdullahi Maiwada, Customs Public Relations Officer, says the interception is the result of a credible intelligence.
He says the suspect, forty year old Kamilu Abdullahi Sarina arrived in Nigeria on board an Ethiopian Airline Flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The Customs spokesperson explains that the undeclared cash violates the Anti-Money Laundering, Prevention and Prohibition, Act 2022 and the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023, both of which mandate that any traveller in possession of funds exceeding $10,000 or its equivalent in negotiable instruments must declare it to the Nigeria Customs Service upon arrival or departure.
Providing further details, he says the smuggled cash was uncovered through the deployment of advanced scanning technology to detect unusual density of luggage.
He says the cash has been formally handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation and prosecution.
