A 34 year old student, Udeh Onuora Pascal, suspected to be working for an international money laundering organization, has been arrested by officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for being in possession of 108 Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) debit cards.
Mr. Pascal was arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos while attempting to board a Qatar Airline flight to China, a statement on Saturday by the NDLEA spokesman, Ofoyeju Mitchell said.
The debit cards belong to five commercial banks.
The statement quoted the NDLEA commander at the Lagos airport, Mr. Ahmadu Garba, as saying that the suspect was arrested in connection with suspected money laundering and was immediately transferred to the Assets and Financial Investigation Directorate of the Agency for investigation.
The “First City Monument Bank (FCMB) had the highest number of cards with 58. Stanbic IBTC Bank has 23 cards, Zenith Bank 19, Fidelity Bank 6 and Diamond Bank 2”, it said.
The Director of Assets and Financial Investigation at the NDLEA, Mrs. Victoria Egbase, said that a prima facie case of financial crime has been established against the suspect and that the Chairman, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, had ordered the transfer of the case to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation.
The suspect in his statement, said that he was asked to take the cards to China.
“I am not the owner of the cards”, Pascal said. “I was told to take them to China and that somebody will collect them from me when I get there. I have a shop where I sell clothes at Onitsha main market. I am also a 300 level student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State studying History and International Relations. I never knew it would lead to my arrest”.
Pascal hails from Obibi in Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State.