Jul 5, 2007 8:19 pm US/Eastern
CBS4 Exclusive: Crackdown On Bogus Money
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DORAL (CBS4) ―
In an exclusive
CBS4 News report, the U.S. Secret Service showed reporter
Brian Andrews how its operations have recently succeeded in cutting fifty percent of the bogus currency circulating in the tri-country area, in an effort that spans all the way to Colombia.
Much of the agency's efforts to close the door on counterfeit money arriving in South Florida has been in stopping it at its source in Colombia. Agents recently returned from the South American country, where they conducted two big raids in the last few weeks, focusing on counterfeit money makers.
In these joint jungle operations with Colombian agents, secret printing labs were found and destroyed, some near the Ecuadorian border.
"We had highly sophisticated equipment in the middle of the jungle, where they had the capability to print maybe upwards of $30 million of counterfeit U.S. currency, said Deputy Special Agent in Charge John Large. "It kind of boggles the mind to think how this operation got set up literally in the middle of nowhere."
In this particular operation, the Secret Service believes the equipment was trucked in from far away, financed by a Colombian drug cartel.
"They had everything they needed to make realistic bills complete with the watermark and security thread," Large added.
In other operations, agents confiscated more than $6 million in funny money, denominations of tens, twenties, fifties and 100 dollar bills.
The Secret Service views counterfeiting as a form of economic terrorism.
"If we were not to suppress this counterfeit currency overseas, then that currency has the potential to go to the United States and harm our economy."
On any given week, the Secret Service could confiscate up to $50,000 in fake money, and when they do, they count it, examine it, in a nondescript yellow room in their offices.
Secret Service agents at Miami International and Fort Lauderdale airports continue monitoring inbound flights from South America. They're inspecting the large amount of currency travelers bring with them, making sure none of it is fake.
For More Info Counterfeit Money, Click Here
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