Police in Spain, Greece and Italy have dismantled a criminal organization that produced and distributed counterfeit €100 banknotes.
The amount of fakes produced amounted to more than a million euros, reports “European truth”. During the coordinated operation, arrests were made in Barcelona, Rome and Naples.
The gang came to the attention of law enforcement in November 2023 – a large number of counterfeit banknotes were discovered in Barcelona. They were also distributed in France, Greece, Italy and Spain, with the elaborate bills passing through ATMs and other devices unhindered. Elisa Rebolo, spokeswoman for the Spanish National Police, says: quotes DW:
“The banknotes produced by the organization were of very high quality, using special inks, watermarks and various features designed to bypass detection mechanisms.”
According to police, the distributors were arrested at Barcelona airport and the city’s bus station. They had 70 thousand euros of counterfeit banknotes with them.
According to information gathered by police officers, the gang had various independent offices in different countries, each responsible for their own parts of the process. The production of counterfeit banknotes, for example, was carried out by a group based in the center of Naples. To hide from the police, she later moved to Rieti, a municipality near Rome. Another group was responsible for transporting large quantities of counterfeit banknotes.
On February 13th, based on information gathered during the investigation, police in Spain, Italy and Greece carried out a simultaneous operation in each country. Spanish and Italian authorities have issued European arrest warrants for others suspected of producing and distributing the banknotes.
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