The Guardia Civil dismantled a network in Roquetas de Mar (Almeria) that aimed to introduce counterfeit coins into the legal cash market. Two Asian men, ages 45 and 46, were detained after being spotted tampering with change and vending machines at a local shopping centre.
The first discovery proved to be only the tip of the iceberg. Officers seized 115 bags holding 354 kilos of 20-cent coins and 3 more kilos of 50-cent coins, worth around €13,550, in the car of one of those arrested, a huge SUV. Added to this were €8,170 in legal tender and several receipts indicating transactions in Roquetas, Santa Pola, Benidorm, Alicante, and Lérida, confirming the crooks’ itinerant activities.
The process comprised inserting these reportedly altered coins into automatic change machines to acquire real bills, a practice that has already been reported to sector businesses and the Bank of Spain.
The two inmates have been taken before the Roquetas de Mar Court of First Instance for cash counterfeiting and fraud, in a case that may spread to other Spanish provinces.
Author: Derek Appleton
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