Money laundering : Customs in Katsina seizes vehicle with N71.3m cash

Money laundering :
Customs in Katsina seizes vehicle with N71.3m cash

* Records N176.3m seizures

The Katsina Command of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), has recorded what can be described as unprecedented seizures, as the operatives intercepted prohibited goods with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N105,000,000 million in November, 2021.

The Command also seized a vehicle with N71,350,000 million (approximately N71.4million) cash, suspected to be money laundering related issue, making a total of N176,350, 000 (approximately N176.4million.

The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of the Command, Comptroller Wada Chedi, made these details known during a press conference in Katsina.

He revealed that the Command seized the cash and arrested the driver of the vehicle as well, along Katsina-Jibia area, a place where insecurity is so prevalent.

*He added; “Our officers intercepted the money along the border area inside the booth of a Toyota Corolla following credible intelligence and intensified effort.

His words:
” As you know, the borders are still closed. So, any person passing through the border must declare money above 10,000 dollars. We brought the money, the suspect and the vehicle. We deposited the money in Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), after we reported to our headquarters.

*We offered administrative bail to the suspect because the investigation is still on-going; in fact we have transferred the case to the headquarters.”

Giving more details on the massive seizures, the CAC informed ;  “items seized include one Golf 3 wagon with chasis No. WVWZZZ1H25W492010 worth N877,500; one Toyota corolla with registration No. LND 586 EJ worth N2,700,000; one Toyota Highlander with DVP of N4,350,000; used J5 Bus with registration No. XB 519 MGR valued at N945,000; Honda Accord with registration No. KNR 915 AA worth N1.6 million; two Volkswagen Passat with registration Nos. JB 435 and KZR 911 Z1 worth N1,890,000 million; one used J5 Bus with registration No. KTN 211 YZ worth DPV N700,000 and another J5 Bus with registration No. 781 XL worth N1,080,000; making a total of N14,407,500.

“Other items seized include; 281 bags of foreign rice- 50kg each worth N6,182,000million; 498 cartons of foreign spaghetti worth N2,390,000million, seven bags of foreign macaroni worth N33,600, 22 kegs of 25 liters of foreign vegetable oil valued at N532,000, 10 cartons of Medicament Diclofenac worth N5,000,000, three bags of potash worth N30,000 and 35 cartons of foreign creamer with N735,000 DPV.
81 kegs of petroleum products worth N367,537; 75 sacks of 25 liters each of PMS worth N163,350; six kegs of 25 liters each of Automotive Gas Oil (AG) worth N47,250; 37 bales of second hand clothings worth N2,200,000; 64 sacks of baby wears worth N27,648,000, 140 pieces of jack knives worth N462,000, 37 pieces of small jack knives with DPV of N611,000, nine pieces of stick jack knives worth N19,800 and 31 bags of tiger nuts 100kg each, valued at N669,600.”

The CAC revealed that the Command also seized 230 parcels of Indian hemp (cannabis sativa) with street value of N18,180,925 million and the truck used as means of conveyance with DPV of N25,972,268 during the period under review.

The CAC commended officers and men of the Command for a job well done. He stressed that the successes recorded by the Command were made possible by their hard work and resilience.

He emphasised that Katsina Command under his leadership will continue to thwart nefarious activities of smugglers in the State.