Criminal organization arrested with a million counterfeit dollars in Ecuador

Quito, 18 Mar The Ecuadorian Police reported this Friday the dismantling of a criminal organization that had in its possession a million counterfeit dollars. An investigation carried out over several months, through the Transnational Crimes Investigation Unit (UDT), in the province of Imbabura, ended with the dismantling of the organization made up of Ecuadorian citizens and foreigners, dedicated to the trafficking of counterfeit currency, reported Norman Cano, commander of the Subzonal Police. During the investigation, police officers discovered that Ecuadorians Kléber Lenin V.C., Luis Guillermo O.B., as well as foreigners José Rubeiro H. A. and Albeiro S. “would arrive in the province with a large amount of adulterated money,” the police said in a statement. “With the information obtained, it was possible to locate and arrest the subjects, who were moving on board a car. The suspects tried to evade the police presence by entering a hostel in the city of Ibarra and in an uninterrupted pursuit, they were captured,” he stressed. One million counterfeit dollars were found in the hands of citizens, which they intended to put into circulation in the national financial system, reads the letter. It was also discovered that the 'modus operandi' of those now detained would be to make loans to finance businesses in exchange for providing financial or movable or immovable property security, thus ripping off citizens, he adds. Among the indications found in the investigation work were one million dollars worth of counterfeit paper money, denomination of 20 dollars, a retained vehicle and five mobile devices, which were entered into the Judicial Police of the city of Ibarra, capital of Imbabura, with their respective chain of custody. CHIEF sm/lll