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March 10, 2023 6:57 PM
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested two syndicates allegedly involved in production and distribution of counterfeit United States Dollars (USD) and new Naira notes.
The NSCDC Director, Public Relations, Olusola Odumosu said this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
He said that one of the groups which consisted of four men were arrested in possession of fake 64,800 dollars and N475,000.
He also said that counterfeit notes of N1.5 million was seized from the second group made of five men.
“From the seized N1.5million, N784,500 were counterfeit new Naira notes while N49,650 was old Naira notes,” he said.
The director said the suspects were arrested from locations in Plateau by the Commandant General, Special Intelligence Squad between Feb. 22 and March 8.
He said that based on report by the Squad Leader, Dandaura Appollos, the first syndicate was apprehended following an intelligence report on their way to deliver the fake notes to a client in Nasarawa state.
He said the suspects have made confessions on their involvement..
Odumosu said that the corps is carrying out further investigations as the arrested suspects assist the corps to further manhunt of other fleeing syndicate members.
He said that investigations revealed that the syndicates had operated in Plateau, Nasarawa, Bauchi and Gombe axis for years.
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The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the nation’s lead federal security agency, recently arrested two syndicates for carrying out a large fake currency racket involving both U.S. dollar and Nigerian Naira notes.
Within the last two months, NSCDC personnel, under the auspices of its anti-counterfeiting and brand protection unit, have seized two separate consignments of counterfeit currency from the two different criminal networks. The first syndicate, which was arrested a few weeks ago in the Ogba area of Lagos State, had been in possession of over 3 million US Dollars’ worth of counterfeit notes. The second syndicate, which was apprehended only days ago in the Apapa area, had processed several million Naira’s worth of fake denominations.
The suspects have since been transferred and remanded in police custody. The NSCDC, upon discovering the suspects in possession of the bogus notes, informed other relevant agencies including economic and financial agencies that specialise in combating counterfeit currency in order to help uncover the source and masterminds of the large-scale forgery racket.
NSCDC Commandant of Lagos State, Mr. Umar Manko, said that the apprehension of the two large criminal networks presents further evidence of the level of sophistication of fake currency syndicates in Nigeria. He also cited that the seizure came as a result of increased intelligence gathering capabilities and collaborations with similar agencies across the world, which added to its existing efforts to combat counterfeiting. Moreover, he noted that the NSCDC will continue to closely monitor all areas of the country, in order to completely eradicate the illegal activities perpetrated by syndicates involved in the manufacturing and circulation of fake currency notes.
In conclusion, the NSCDC urges all citizens to be vigilant in the face of the phenomenon, warning all Nigerians to desist from engaging in, attempting or harbouring any form of criminal activity such as counterfeiting.
