It was the first time that police have dismantled a counterfeit
network in Colombia which made fake 20 euro notes along with those of
higher denominations, police said in a statement.
“The bills
which are normally counterfeited have a face value of 50, 100 or 500
euros and, up until now, the falsification of 20 euro notes has never
been detected,” it said.
The fake bills were destined to be shipped to Spain and other nations in the euro zone.
More
than 80 police officers from Spain, Colombia and Europol were part of
the investigation which lasted nearly one year and culminated in 10
searches carried out in Bogota last month and the arrests of five men,
all of them Colombian nationals.
Police seized 165,000 euros
(227,000 dollars), 6,000 dollars and 1.4 billion Colombian pesos
(468,00 euros, 646,000 dollars) in fake bills as well as material to
make counterfeit money as part of their operation.
Colombia, the world’s biggest producer of cocaine, is a major source of fake dollars and euros. (AFP)
