Thursday, July 3, 2008

NDLEA arrests man with forged European cheques
By Wole Shadare

THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has concluded plans to transfer a 29-year-old man from Benin Republic to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for being in possession of a bag containing forged European cheques valued at €207,000.

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The suspect, Ziko Hilary, was arrested at the Baggage Hall, Idiroko border on June 25, 2008 at about 1.00 p.m. on his way to Cotonu after a business trip to Nigeria.

Ziko, who speaks Yoruba and English, fluently told NDLEA officials that it was one of his customers named Kole, who gave him the parcel containing the cheques for postage in Benin Republic.

Briefing journalists yesterday, Spokesman for the anti-narcotic agency, Ofoyeju Mitchell, said the suspect, who works with an automobile sales company in Benin Republic, claimed that Kole "told me that I should assist him post the parcel in Benin Republic so that it will get to Europe in time. I do not even know the content of the parcel. I was only trying to help him as a customer".

However, the NDLEA Commander at Idiroko Border, Mr. Davis Olatekunbi, has described such help as criminal.

He said that as an adult, the suspect ought to know what could implicate him.

The NDLEA commander promised that besides seizures of illicit drugs, his officers would work hard in intercepting "fraudulent" parcels, thereby preventing them from getting to unsuspecting victims of fraud outside the country.

His words: "We have arrested several suspects at Idiroko here with fraudulent documents in the course of searching for illicit drugs. The command will continue to arrest drug traffickers and fraudsters that make use of the border and bring them to book", Olatekunbi declared.