6 September 2007
Lagos — A joint postal interdiction operations involving operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United Kingdom Serious Organized Crimes Agency has ended in Lagos.
The month long operation which was part of the Global Counterfeiting Financial Instrument Initiative Operation was rounded off on August 16, 2007.
A statement by Osita Nwajah Head, Media & Publicity of EFCC said the exercise is the first multi-national interdiction operation of outward bound packages in the country. It saw agents of the three law enforcement agencies poring through tones of outward bound packages in the pre-exporting mail processing centres of the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) and private courier companies like FedEx, UPS and DHL. The operation produced startling discoveries of how criminal elements operating from the country ship fake documents and counterfeit financial instruments abroad. In several packages were found fraudulent identification and counterfeit financial instruments neatly concealed in carbon paper to evade the sensors of scanners.
In all, 15,129 counterfeit cheques related to advance fee fraud scams were intercepted. They include 6,948 blank cheques and others drawn for the sums of $145.9 million, Euro 211,077, 218.00, over two million Pounds Sterling and 120,450.00 Canadian dollars.
The combined value in naira is about N55.93billion. The operations opened up new investigation vistas leading to the arrest and prosecution of a number of suspects.
Mike Darvey, who led six other operatives of the UK Serious Organized Crimes Agency to the exercise, described the operation as successful. He also commended the professionalism of the EFCC operatives and promised his countrys continued assistance to the Commission.
On his part, Sean Lynch who was at the head of the United States Postal Service team described the operation as an eye opener. He said the exercise has proved that not all Nigerians are involved in the scam. He also commended the efforts of EFCC in combating financial crimes in Nigeria.
Similar interdiction operations were carried out simultaneously in Spain, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. The global initiative against 419 scam will climax with an international press conference in Washington DC, to be conducted by Chief Executives of selected law enforcement agencies around the world. The EFCC is one of the agencies invited, the statement pointed out.
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Good afternoon, I am Roxanne and I just wanted to know who/where I could send an e-mail I received in regards to a bank draft Fedex has for me from West Africa...no worries I MOST DEF. DID NOT GIVE THEM THE $280.00 they were asking for but this needs to be stopped!! I do not wish to offend any one that has been takin by this. Sincerly, Roxanne Dearing