A 25-year-old man, John Okafor, was nabbed by Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for being in possession of N48m.
The suspect who was said to be among the passengers of a commercial bus coming from Onitsha, Anambra State, was apprehended with the money on the Abaji-Abuja Expressway on Monday by the anti-narcotic officials who were on a routine patrol.
Okafor insisted that the money belonged to an unnamed bureau de change firm in Onitsha, adding that he was an employee of the firm.He said he was heading for the foreign exchange market in the Federal Capital Territory to convert the sum to dollars when he was arrested.
He said,
“I work for a bureau de change in Onitsha. I was asked to purchase dollars at the foreign exchange market in Abuja with the money. When we got to Abaji, our vehicle was searched and the money was found. That is all I know.”
Meanwhile, a drug dealer, Chukuka Ugbai, was also arrested with 79 bags of dried weeds said to have tested positive for cannabis in Bako village in the Kwali Area Council, Abuja during the Monday patrol.
Our correspondent learnt that the drug, weighing 817 kilogrammes was found in his warehouse.
Ugbai, however, said he was amazed that the operatives were able to track him to his residence, where the drug warehouse was located, adding that he took to drug trafficking to fend for his family.
He said,
“I was not lucky enough because I don’t know how they detected my cannabis warehouse. I sell cannabis to take care of my family and pay my children’s school fees. The officers found 79 bags of cannabis in my store.”
The FCT commander of the NDLEA, Mrs. Chinyere Obijuru said
She said, “Okafor was on board a commercial bus from Onitsha in Anambra State when N48,450,000 was found in a brown carton concealed in a sack. He also had on him 86,500 CFA. He claimed that the money belongs to a bureau de change at Onitsha. He is suspected to be engaging in money laundering and will be transferred to the EFCC for further investigation.