Turkish security forces have seized $1 billion of counterfeit money in Istanbul, and arrested six people involved in the operation, including one Ghanaian and three Swedish nationals, the governor’s office said on Friday.
Gendarmerie forces tracked the suspects to a storage space in Istanbul’s Kagithane district, where they seized the fake $100 bills meant to be sent to African countries, the office said.
The suspects’ homes were searched and their cash and jewellery confiscated. The Swedish and Ghanaian consulates were notified.
The counterfeit haul was the largest in Turkey’s history, the governor’s office said.
Counterfeit money operations often involve organized criminal networks with sophisticated techniques for producing high-quality counterfeit banknotes.
These criminals seek to profit by circulating counterfeit currency, usually targeting countries or regions where the counterfeit notes are less likely to be scrutinized or detected.