Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested Oguma Richard Uchenna in possession of 1026 pieces of travellers’ cheques worth N1.1 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Also, the operatives foiled an attempt by drug traffickers to smuggle 10.89 kilograms of cocaine into the country through a Qatar Airways flight.
READ ALSO: NDLEA arrest Brazil returnee with 101 parcels of cocaine concealed inside children duvets
Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesman, disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday.
A traveller’s cheque is a pre-printed, fixed-amount cheque designed to allow the person signing it to make an unconditional payment to someone else as a result of having paid the issuer for that privilege.
The cheques, he said, were neatly concealed inside four bound hardcover books, disguised as academic project literature, to the United Kingdom.
He said the financial instruments, suspected to be counterfeits, were discovered on April 27 at the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO) export shed of the Lagos airport.
He explained that the discovery was made during cargo examination of some consignments meant for exportation to the UK on a cargo flight.
The illicit drug was hidden in seven children’s duvets, packed in an unaccompanied bag from Brazil.
“A breakdown of the cheques shows they have monetary values of two hundred and eighty-seven thousand, six hundred and twenty-three dollars, thirty-one cent ($287, 623.31),” he said.
“One million, four hundred and fifty-six thousand, three hundred Canadian dollars ($1,456,300) and One million, two hundred and ninety-seven thousand, eight hundred (1,297,800) euros.
“This is with a total value of one billion, one hundred and fifty-seven million, six hundred and seventy thousand, four hundred and sixty-nine Naira and ninety-two kobo (N1,157, 670,469.92).”
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