Police have dismantled an international counterfeit money ring
based in Colombia that produced millions in fake dollar and euro bills
which they shipped to Europe hidden inside encyclopedias, Spanish
police who took part in the operation said Monday.
The authorities detained three people in the northeastern
Colombian city of Cúcuta near the border with Venezuela where the ring
was based who they believe ran the operation, police said in a
statement.
The group, which had branches in the US and Spain, mostly made
counterfeit bills with a face value of 100 US dollars or 50 euros but
sometimes made fake Venezuelan Bolivar notes as well if it received an
order for them, they added.
The fake euros and dollars were first shipped across the border to
Venezuela from where they were sent either by post or by “mules” on
direct flights to either Lisbon or Madrid who hid the bills inside the
encyclopedia volumes.
Police seized three printers from the group’s production center in
Cucuta as well as 17,000 fake 100 dollar notes as well as negatives,
paper, paint and other material used to make the bills.
The operation began in the middle of this year and it involved police
from Colombia as well as Europol and the US secret services in addition
to Spanish police, the statement added.
Colombia is a major source of fake dollars and euros. (AFP)
