Police Stop Illegal Counterfeit Dollars Manufacturing Operation in Chechnya

On Tuesday, senior officer from the Main Department for Economic Crimes (MDEC) under the Russian Interior Ministry, police colonel Boris Smetannikov informed journalists that the operatives from the Russian Interior Ministry stopped an illegal counterfeit money operation in Chechnya.

According to the official, "presently, counterfeiters don't have the possibility to make fake money on the territory of the Chechen republic because of the preventive measures taken by the police there." At the same time, he pointed out, according to information gathered by the MDEC, "the criminals transported the equipment designed to make counterfeit dollars on the territory of Daghestan and Ingushetia." Up till now, 50 percent of seized counterfeit dollars in Russia "originate from the North Caucasus, the rest comes from abroad." Smetannikov explained that the latter part has an Arab origin." In particular, counterfeit dollars are normally printed in Iran, Iraq and Turkey, and a significant part of the counterfeit money comes from Ukraine.