Joint operation of the Tax Agency, National Police, Italian Guardia di Finanza and Europol

• Four young men who had a network of buyers and distributors of counterfeit currency throughout Spain and had begun to operate internationally with shipments to Portugal, France and Italy have been arrested.

• Two printing plants for counterfeit banknotes have been dismantled in Barcelona and Jaén, which used special paper and ink imported from China

• They sold the 'recipe' for the manufacture of counterfeit currency in exchange for 'royalties' based on the banknotes that the buyers managed to sell on the black market.

November 27, 2024.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police, the Italian Guardia di Finanza and Europol, have dismantled one of the largest national networks selling counterfeit 10 and 20 euro banknotes via instant messaging. Four young people have been arrested –Barcelona (3) and Jaén (1)- who had a network of buyers and distributors of counterfeit currency throughout Spain and had begun to operate internationally with shipments to Portugal, France and Italy. Two printing plants for counterfeit banknotes have been dismantled in Barcelona and Jaén, which used special paper and ink imported from China.

The investigation began at the beginning of the year when it became known that two new counterfeits of 10 and 20 euro notes had been found. The agents detected that it was a counterfeit made in Spain and that it had spread throughout the national territory, so it was suspected that it could be sold through the web or social networks. 

After these counterfeits were detected, two young men were arrested in the Levante area with a significant amount of counterfeit banknotes who claimed to have acquired them through an instant messaging platform.

Thanks to the investigations carried out by the investigators, it was possible to detect the social network channel through which the counterfeit currency was being offered, proving that the channel administrator was a person who had already been arrested for similar crimes. The young man had created a large network of bank accounts through an online payment platform and, through that system, he received payments for the packages of counterfeit bills that he sent.

The agents detected that in addition to being engaged in the production and sale of counterfeit 10 and 20 euro notes, he was also engaged in providing contacts in Italy for those who wanted to buy counterfeit notes of other face values such as 50 and 100 euros.

They sold the 'recipe' in exchange for 'royalties'

They were also able to verify that he made available to certain people information on the method for making counterfeit banknotes and that those who acquired the 'recipe' had to pay him a percentage of the profits they obtained from the sale of each of the banknotes.

After several shipments were intercepted by the agents, it was found that much of the material used to make the banknotes had been purchased in China, so the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency collaborated jointly in the investigation and located a large order with 2,000 special sheets for making banknotes, which had security thread visible when held up to the light and luminescent fibres visible under ultraviolet light, and printer ink, the recipient of which was one of those under investigation.

During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the channel through which the counterfeit currency was being offered was becoming more and more active and that the number of orders sent was increasing more and more. According to investigators, during the time they were operating with counterfeit currency, they could have introduced more than 3,600 pieces of counterfeit 10 and 20 euro notes into the financial circuit, totalling a sum of more than 60,000 euros. Investigations into how counterfeit banknotes were introduced into the financial circuit revealed that those who bought this currency put it into circulation using the "drip" technique at different points in Spain.

Once the role of each of the suspects was verified and they were located, five raids and searches were carried out in the main homes of the suspects - Barcelona (3), Jaén (2) -, in which 67 counterfeit 50 euro notes were seized, sheets with 10 and 20 euro notes that had not been fully processed, 10 printers, mobile phones, computer equipment, storage devices, paper cutters, ink cartridges, special paints and lacquer.

After being placed at the disposal of the judicial authority and, one of them, at the disposal of the Juvenile Prosecutor's Office, two of the detainees were ordered to be placed in provisional prison. The investigation is still ongoing and further arrests are not ruled out.