Villavicencio: center of counterfeit money

In this operation, 110,000 counterfeit US dollars and more than 113 million adulterated Colombian pesos were seized.

By Luissa Fernanda Castañeda

The investigation revealed that the network operated from a clandestine printing press located in the El Brillante neighborhood of Villavicencio, where counterfeit bills of various denominations were manufactured, including $5,000, $10,000, $20,000, $50,000 and $100,000 Colombian pesos. These adulterated bills were distributed not only in Bogotá, but also in municipalities in ten different departments of the country.

The group was made up of seven members, five of whom were members of the same family with criminal records and links to other investigations related to the trafficking of counterfeit money since 2021, “They already had convictions and were immersed in other investigations for transporting and sending remittances with counterfeit money to different parts of the country.”, revealed the authorities.

In turn, they discovered that the network sent counterfeit money to other cities from Bogotá using courier companies and false identity documents to evade detection. Furthermore, within Bogotá, They used a minor, the daughter of one of the members of the group, to transport the counterfeit bills hidden in bags or clothing.

The operation allowed the dismantling in nine simultaneous raids in Bogotá and Villavicencio. During these, the authorities seized $58,348,000 pesos and $417 authentic dollars, in addition to $113,900,000 pesos and $110,000 counterfeit dollars. A car used to transport counterfeit money and an industrial plant for manufacturing adulterated banknotes were also confiscated.

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The detainees were charged with counterfeiting national and foreign currency, trafficking in counterfeit currency, possession of items intended for counterfeiting currency, bribery by giving and offering, and conspiracy to commit a crime. Authorities continue investigations to determine the extent of the operation and the possible involvement of other individuals.

On the other hand, the National Police managed to capture “Roger”, this individual is one of the main distributors of synthetic drugs in communes four and five of Villavicencio, He was arrested during a raid on his residence in the Villa Suárez neighborhood. In his possession, 661 doses of 2CB (TUSI), 45 grams of marijuana, seven bottles of a chemical substance for the manufacture of synthetic drugs, a gramera, hermetic bags and other elements for dosing drugs were found.

Additionally, during the raid, 14 counterfeit one hundred dollar bills were discovered that “Roger” planned to use to defraud people through the modality known as the “Chilean Package.” These fake bills were wrapped in clear plastic bags and attached to paper cutouts to simulate a large amount of money.

These actions were carried out jointly between the Directorate of ICriminal Investigation and INTERPOL (DIJIN) of the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office and the United States Secret Service Agency (USS).