Italian police have dismantled a vast network of euro counterfeiters, arresting 94 people across the country, an officer told AFP on Wednesday. We arrested 94 people in Italy, in 16 of the country's 20 regions,said police spokesman Colonel Carlo Pieroni, adding that most were inthe impoverished southern regions of Campania and Calabria.Police seized 1.23 million euros (1.6 million dollars) ofcounterfeit notes as well as forged documents and revenue stamps used for paying administrative fees, Pieroni said.The counterfeiters produced good quality euro notes indenominations of 20, 50 and 100 as well as one and two euro coins, he added.Pieroni said they had also been operating in other European countries including Germany, Spain, Lithuania and France, and that somefake euros had turned up in Latin America.Two people were arrested in Spain last year as part of the same investigation, he added.What began as a probe into drug trafficking led police to the counterfeit network, which Pieroni described as a veritable holding company made up of 11 criminal units.
Some 700 police officers took part in the operation, which involved
150 searches. They uncovered four laboratories where the fake bills and coins were made.Some of counterfeit money made its way into the illegal drug trade,
Pieroni said.The crackdown came the day after Italian police announced the
dismantling of a network operating near Naples that made fake Algerian dinars worth about 3.5 million euros.
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