The FSB and the Interior Ministry carried out a joint operation in Dagestan to arrest 11 suspected members of a criminal group specializing in the manufacture and sale of counterfeit banknotes, report “New news”. More than 200 law enforcement and special services officers took part in the operation.
According to the FSB, during the year a group operating in the Levashinsky district of Dagestan counterfeited banknotes worth more than one billion rubles, mostly in denominations of 5,000 rubles. The attackers were selling counterfeit tickets in different Russian regions “through wholesale channels”, the FSB said.
Criminal charges were brought against the detainees under articles on the manufacture, storage and sale of counterfeit currency within the framework of an organized group. They face a prison sentence of up to 15 years or a fine of 1 million rubles.
Searches were carried out at the places of residence of the suspects in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia, during which the security forces found and seized more than 20 million counterfeit banknotes, printing plates for their printing and special paper, a matrix for making US dollars, equipment for printing fake banknotes and professional tools counterfeit banknote security signs. In addition, law enforcement found more than 300 ammunition for a Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK-47) in one of the detainees at his home.
