Counterfeit Currency Crackdown: Dozens Arrested in Italy and France

From the early hours of this morning, the Carabinieri of the Anti-Counterfeiting Monetary Command have carried out in Naples, in other locations in the country, and in France, an ordinance for the application of precautionary measures, issued by the GIP of the Naples court upon request of the local Anti-Mafia District Directorate, against dozens of people seriously suspected, in various capacities, of selling counterfeit euro currency in Italy and abroad. Sixty-three people have been arrested, 48 of these in jail for selling counterfeit euro currency in Italy and abroad. Of these, 13 are accused of being linked to the Mazzarella clan. During a press conference at the Naples Prosecutor's Office, the prosecutor Nicola Gratteri and the heads of the Carabinieri and the Anti-Counterfeiting Monetary Command reconstructed that the base of the international organization was in the Pendino district and was able to distribute counterfeit banknotes marked “Napoli Group” throughout Europe. The reconstructed volume of business is at least 6 million euros in one year, with the production of about 60 million euros of counterfeit banknotes “still in circulation and seized throughout the Euro area” explained Colonel Lorenzo Marinaccio. During the investigations, carried out in coordination with Europol and Eurojust, there were 7 arrests in flagrante, including 3 French individuals caught at Capodichino airport attempting to return to France in possession of 200 thousand counterfeit euros.