CANADIAN POLICE SEIZE U.S. BANKNOTE COUNTERFEITING PRESS

An offset printing press used to manufacture counterfeit US$20 banknotes was seized by the RCMP and US Secret Service. This significant seizure was made earlier today in the Trois-Rivières area. The authorities had been looking for this offset press for several years. A large quantity of paper was also seized by police, that could have been used by the counterfeiters to manufacture from US$40 to US$200 million.

This operation conducted as part of an investigation dubbed Project CRANIUM follows in the wake of the May 2012 dismantling of a laboratory, also in Trois-Rivières, that was used to add finishing touches to counterfeit notes. The investigation showed that the criminal organization had the capability to manufacture and to distribute worldwide millions of counterfeit US$20 banknotes.

Those very high quality counterfeit notes were virtually undetectable to the naked eye. Some of the features they had were rather uncommon in this criminal industry, including the type of paper used, that was especially made with a Jackson watermark and a dark vertical stripe imitating the security thread found in authentic notes.

Back in 2012, four individuals linked to this counterfeiting ring were indicted on a variety of charges, including possession of counterfeit money, making counterfeit money and uttering counterfeit money.

To read the complete article, see: Press Used to Print Millions of Counterfeit US Banknotes Seized (www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/qc/nouv-news/com-rel/2014/01/140131-eng.htm)

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