EFCC Arrests Three Suspects With 1,144 ATM Cards At Kano Airport

The three suspects caught with ATM cards were said to be travelling the United Arab Emirate (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it operatives have arrested three suspects with over 1,000 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, Kano State.

The commission, in a statement on Friday, said the suspects were caught trying to smuggle a total of 1,144 ATM cards out of the country.

Wilson Uwujaren, the commission’s spokesperson who issued the statement, added that the arrest was carried out between November 24 and December 1, 2021.

The three suspects, according to the statement, are Abdullahi Usman, Musa Abubakar and Abdulwahid Auwalu.

Mr Abubakar was said to have been discovered to be on his way to Dubai, UAE, with 714 ATM cards concealed with him.

EFCC said Mr Usman, who was said to be heading to Saudi Arabia, had 298 ATM cards in his possession.

Mr Auwalu, on the other hand, was sad to have been arrested with 132 ATM cards while trying to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Istanbul, Turkey.

“The suspects will be charged to court as soon as the investigation is conclude,” the statement said.

The anti-graft agency had announced on September 2020 that it was investigating a suspected fraudster caught concealing 2,886 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards and four SIM cards in noodles while on his way to the United Arab Emirate, Dubai.

The suspect, Ishaq Abubakar, was arrested by the Nigeria Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and handed over to the EFCC Lagos Zonal office for investigation and prosecution.