A man has been arrested with 5,342 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards at the Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano.
Sanusi Labaran was intercepted on Wednesday by Customs officials minutes before boarding an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The Customs Service said the suspect has been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Last month a Dubai-bound passenger was apprehended with 2,886 ATM cards at the Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Lagos.
Kano Comptroller of Customs, Ahmed Nasir, who briefed reporters, said the ATM cards, of various banks, were hidden in two handbags containing beans.
“The suspect has an international passport and a Dubai residence permit, which suggests it might not be the first time he is shipping ATM cards from Nigeria to Dubai,” Nasir said.
“The fact that he alone is in possession of over 5,000 cards raises suspicion. Again, why did he conceal them in beans?”
Nasir said Labaran, the cards and the bags have been handed over to the EFCC zonal head, Sanusi Aliyu.
Aliyu said the anti-graft agency will try to unravel why he had so many ATM cards on him, and why he he wanted to ship them from Nigeria to another country, as well as who might be his sponsors or collaborators.
– The Nation