Police broke up gang distributing counterfeit money in Spain

GUARDIA CIVIL officers broke up a Spanish-Senegalese gang that would reportedly smuggle and distribute counterfeit money in Spain.

During the operation, the police seized €60,000 in fake bills and 32 people were arrested throughout Cadiz and Sevilla.

The investigation that led to their arrest started after several storekeepers in Cadiz Province lodged complaints with law enforcement saying they had been paid with counterfeit €20 and €50 bills.

Police discovered that the gang, whose leader was a Senegalese national living in Sevilla, would travel to other EU countries to buy counterfeit money. Once in Spain they would reportedly sell the bills for 20 or 30 per cent of their real value. The profits would purportedly be sent to Senegal through international wire transfers.

The investigation was made all the more difficult by the fact that many of the gang members are from Senegal and would talk to each other in their native Wolof.

During the searches conducted by police, the officers also found a small amount of drugs, electronic devices, an undisclosed amount of documents and precision scales.

The detained also stand accused of drug trafficking, crimes against intellectual property and burglary, said sources close to the investigation talking to 20minutos.es.