by ‘Jola Sotubo

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), yesterday apprehended a man found in possession of 107 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

The 36-year-old man was also found with two passports, one Nigerian, one Turkish, bearing different names.

He was arrested during a routine search on passengers aboard a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul.

Vanguard reports:

The suspect, who holds a dual identity, was apprehended during an outward screening of the Turkish Airline passengers to Istanbul, Turkey at the airport when the cards were discovered by anti-narcotics officials.

Speaking on the arrest, NDLEA Airport Commander, Mr Hamza Umar, noted that the suspect was also arrested with two international passports with his photographs but bearing different names.

“He had a Nigerian passport with the name Funsho Oladimeji Babatunde and a Turkish passport with the name Kosar Kursat both bearing his photographs. The cards found in his luggage are 68 Citi Interswitch Master cards and 39 Citi Interswitch Visa cards”, Hamza stated.

Meanwhile, Chairman of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, has directed that the suspect be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation, confirming that the suspect was caught with the ATM cards.

The suspect, a native of Iwo in Kwara State and lives in Surulere, Lagos, told investigators that he was taking the cards to a friend in Turkey.

The Ordinary National Diploma (OND) graduate of Kwara Polytechnic said, “My friend in Turkey called me that I should help to send the cards to him in Istanbul, Turkey. When I collected the cards in Lagos, I kept them in my bag but, during search, the officer saw the cards and took me in for interrogation. I am an OND graduate of economics of Kwara Polytechnic” .