Ecuador: Counterfeit U.S. bills continue to flow in from Peru

elcomercio.com reported hundreds of kilometers away in the Peruvian cities of Callao, Tumbes, Lima or Cuzco, the path of the counterfeit dollars that come to Ecuador starts. Smugglers, ‘tourists’ or carriers are behind this powerful illegal activity. Since 2000, following the dollarization, foreign mafias consider the country as a key point for this business. Banknotes that criminal groups introduced is incalculable. Only in the last four years, the financial system has detected $ 2.5 million counterfeit money in local banking. Every month, entities deliver, on average, 3000 counterfeit notes, an amount that does not reveal the actual amount that circulates daily in the country. International networks introduced by clandestine money areas and border crossings located in Loja, El Oro and Guayas, in the south, and Carchi, in the north. There are three ways to do it, police said. The first: by trucks bringing agricultural products into the country. For agents that operate at the border is an impossible task to review all shipments. “Every day dozens of trucks entering. They inspected five, eight, 15 or even 20 quintals, but another percentage not, “admits an agent this newspaper. Two: it is known that the mafia dispatched the illegitimate money from interprovincial buses, under the cover of parcels. In Ecuador, other members of the criminal organization removed shipments. This mode was identified three years ago by the Peruvian police when they discovered two boxes with USD 95 000 false. A third mode -at As with drug trafficking – is to engage mules to pretend visits to the country and introduce the background dollars in double bags, crafts … But these dealers have a significant advantage, unlike the drug lords: the dogs have the ability to detect money. There are sporadic seizures that manages the Police at the border. The findings occur mainly in the cities where they finally reach the notes, as Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca and Portoviejo for their business. Already in these cities, mafias trading fake money with local criminal groups and even some people corrupt financial agencies. Three weeks, for example, does a judge in Los Rios ordered the raid on an office fast payouts because four seniors reported receiving illegitimate dollars to remove the Human Development Bond. During the operation, officers found that dependence on false banknotes USD 160 USD 20 and arrested the cashier gave three of the four receipts. The case now under investigation. Intelligence found that in large cities, foreign criminal groups trading dollars depending on the quality. “For example, they sold USD 10 000 USD return false 2500 true. That is about the relationship, “reveals a uniform. Local criminal networks accessing this treatment then do a thorough job, which requires time, but yields substantial gains. They go to markets, large warehouses of food or informal settings and purchase, with tickets adulterated products wholesale. Quintals of rice, sugar, potatoes, etc. That food then sold in other places smaller amounts. That way money launderers and completes the process. The Judicial Police in Ecuador indicates that no clandestine workshops dedicated to this illegal activity. All entered, in a large percentage, from Peru. Reports of the US Secret Service said that currently the country is the main producer of fake dollars worldwide. The copy is so good that at first no irregularities are distinguished. This is because the gangs use real paper money. Washed with chemicals tickets remaining USD 1 to white and then printed data USD 5, 20, 50 or 100. A marker does not detect the deception. Although it is known that also use conventional paper and wonks are responsible for providing the finishes (relief, security strip, watermark) banknotes. Ecuador remain in the low-denomination (USD 5, 20) and the US get the $ 100. Read Article

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