The Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos,Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) today , Tuesday, disclosed that it has intercepted an Australian identified as Kavlak Onal with €651,505 and $800,575, about N2.28 billion.
According to the NCS MMIA Command the suspect, Kavlak Onal was en route to Dubai aboard Emirates Airlines on Saturday, December 13, 2025, when he was arrested by the Anti-Money Laundering Unit of the Command.
Briefing journalists on the development, the Customs Area Controller of the Command, Comptroller Chidi Nwokorie, stated that the suspect and the seized foreign currencies would be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation on the matter.
Nwokorie advised passengers to always declare currencies on them be Naira or foreign , to Customs officers,adding that when they are declared inline with the law, they are will not be seized.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to enforce Customs regulations and collaborate with law enforcement agencies, we are handing over the following seized undeclared foreign currencies—€651,505 and $800,575, amounting to about N2,281,891,575 when converted to naira—to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“This is also a demonstration of the synergy that has existed between the two agencies, knowing that nothing gives energy to strategy like synergy.
“This interception was made at about 1445 hours on Saturday, December 13, 2025, at the Departure Terminal 2, when Mr. Kavlak Onal, an Austrian national with passport number AP0084116, who was scheduled to travel on Emirates Airline to Dubai, was asked if he had any currency to declare and he said he did not,” Nwokorie said.
The Controller explained that after a search was conducted, the amount mentioned above was discovered in the suspect’s travelling bag.
This, he said contravenes extant laws which mandate all travellers, inbound and outbound, to declare foreign currencies or negotiable instruments exceeding the $10,000 threshold or its equivalent.
The interception, he said is in accordance with the laws and Acts which empower and confer on the NCS the authority to prevent illicit financial flows and ensure strict implementation of Anti-Money Laundering obligations at all borders.
These, he said includes: Section 12 of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1995; Section 3 (3–5) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022; and Section 55 (1) of the NCS Act, 2023.
Speaking further, the Comptroller said that officers in the Command resisted all attempts at compromise and successfully intercepted the funds.
The MMIA Comptroller warned that anyone who fails to declare foreign currency above the $10,000 risks prosecution and forfeiture of the money to the Federal Government.
He advised the general public that carrying currency exceeding the legally approved threshold of $10,000 or its equivalent is not an offence but that what is offence is failure to declare, false declaration, or under-declaration of the prescribed amount .
“ I urge anyone who has nothing to hide and is engaged in legitimate business and trade to make an honest and full declaration of currency and other negotiable instruments above the $10,000 threshold at the Currency Declaration Desks in the Arrival and Departure Halls of the airport, or risk prosecution and forfeiture of the funds to the Federal Government,” he said.
Nwokorie, thereafter handed over the suspect to the EFCC for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Speaking after the suspect was handed over to the EFCC,the Assistant Commander of the anti graft body, Adejumo Richard, commended inter-agency relation and collaboration between the Customs Service and the Commission.
EFCC,he said would continue the investigation from where Customs stopped, adding the Commission would also ensure that a thorough investigation is carried out
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