Ozoh Ikenna was arrested yesterday October 9th at the International Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, by men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) as he tried to smuggle 23 wraps containing 34 thousand dollars out of the country.
Ozoh was on his way to Brazil in an Etihad Airways flight, that would first stop at Abu Dhabi, when he was arrested after customs spotted the money, packed in wraps similar to narcotics and concealed in his boxer shorts, during screening of passengers.
Speaking on the arrest, NDLEA Airport commander, Ahmadu Garba, told journalists
“The wraps of dollars found on Ozoh Ikenna were detected with the aid of a scanning machine. We also conducted a follow-up operation where one Ogbo Emmanuel (pictured above), who gave Ozoh the $34,000 dollars, was arrested,” the commander stated.
A rep of Assets and Financial Investigation directorate Mrs Victoria Egbase said investigation conducted revealed that the suspects are involved in the laundering of substantial amount of illicit drug proceeds.
“We were able to trace over N226,000,000 to one bank account belonging to the second suspect, Ogbo Emmanuel. The account name is Eternal God International Limited”.
Ozoh, in his statement, said that he was only a courier.
“I live in Brazil since 2008. I was paid to smuggle the $34,000 to Brazil. They promised to pay me five per cent. I agreed to smuggle the money to alleviate my financial hardship. I could not swallow the wraps so I decided to hide it in my underpants,” he said