Three Swedes were arrested in a police raid in Istanbul, Turkey, last week. In connection with the crackdown, a search was carried out in a warehouse where one billion in fake dollars was found.
“On Monday, June 12, we learned that three Swedish citizens have been detained in Turkey.”, writes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an email to TV4 Nyheterna.
Turkish authorities struck on June 9 following tips that a group of people were printing large quantities of counterfeit dollar bills. Six people could be arrested, three Swedes each, and one billion dollars in fake $100 bills.
The strike could take place after Turkish police had surveillance on the people involved. They were then able to establish that the suspects often visited a warehouse in Kağıthane, a district at the far northern end of the Golden Horn on the European side of Istanbul.
On film from the crackdown, the team first arrests a man, and then begins to open up all the pallets placed in the warehouse. Pallets filled to the brim with counterfeit $100 bills.
According to Turkish authorities, the notes had been prepared to be smuggled down to Africa.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms in an email to TV4 news that they are aware that three Swedes have been arrested in Turkey.
“On Monday, June 12, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs became aware that three Swedish citizens had been detained in Turkey. One of these is still in custody.”
The Swedes who were arrested are said to be the ones who manufactured the notes and would arrange the smuggling to Africa. In addition to the Swedes, a person from Ghana and a Turkish citizen were also arrested.
Parallel to the crackdown on the warehouse, raids were also carried out on luxury villas located in a suburb of Istanbul, where an unknown amount of cash and several pieces of jewelry were seized.
In a statement, Turkish police wrote that the billion-dollar seizure was “the highest amount of counterfeit money seized in the history of the republic.”