Spanish police said they arrested two suspects and seized about 300,000 euro in fake 20 and 50 bills after Colombian colleagues tipped them off that forgers from Colombia’s city of Cali had decided to transfer their business to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria.
The arrested suspects, according to the police statement, have been highly skilled money forgers, equipped with “machinery, tools and materials necessary to falsify euro banknotes.”
Soon after the operation in Spain, Romanian police searched five houses and took in three suspects for questioning.
In the main suspect’s house police discovered an illegal print shop and seized machinery, including a “UV-inkjet printer and cutting devices, different tools for counterfeiting and approximately 400 pieces of 100 Leu counterfeits for a total value of about €8,000 (US$ 9,036), unfinished counterfeit banknotes and raw materials,” read the Europol statement.
Since 2014, when Romania introduced high quality polymer banknotes, 17,065 falsified banknotes have been detected, causing some €352,500 ($398,113) financial damage to the country, according to Europol.
