600 million ariary in counterfeit notes seized in Toamasina
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on NewsMada
Atsinanana police seized counterfeit notes worth 600 million ariary in Toamasina and arrested a 39-year-old woman suspected of leading the operation, along with two printers. The upcoming lychee season, which is conducive to passing counterfeit notes to farmers, prompted the operation, according to the regional public security directorate.
Toamasina police arrested a 39-year-old woman described as the alleged head of a counterfeit banknote operation, after several days of surveillance conducted by the Atsinanana Regional Directorate of Public Security (DRSP), reports NewsMada. Investigators arrested her as she came to collect genuine banknotes as part of a transaction involving counterfeit notes.
Police intercepted a vehicle carrying the counterfeit bundles near Toamasina’s Lycée II Suburbain on Friday. The total value of the seized notes is estimated at 600 million ariary. A tip-off to police enabled an operation in which investigators posed as customers, while the suspects changed meeting places several times.
A search of the suspect’s home subsequently uncovered two printers that she allegedly used to produce the counterfeit notes. Other alleged members of the network are being sought, according to NewsMada.
Toamasina police began their surveillance on Friday, ahead of the lychee season and other cash-crop seasons, a period during which the DRSP Atsinanana fears increased circulation of counterfeit notes among farmers. The arrest follows several seizures of counterfeit notes reported in recent months, notably in Senegal with 830 million CFA francs seized in Dakar.
