Peru has surpassed Colombia to become the world’s main producer of counterfeit notes despite the arrest of one of the alleged main counterfeiters Joel Quispe Rodríguez, according to Peruvian and US officials.
Peru now accounts for 17% of all counterfeit dollars in the United States according to Brian Leary a spokesperson for the US Secret Service. So far this year US$17m in false currency has been confiscated.
The change is a startling escalation considering the US only detected the counterfeit bills coming from Peru in 2003. The Andean nation has surpassed even Colombia, which was once responsible for producing 43% of US counterfeit dollars according to InSight, an organisation which studies organised crime in Latin America.
Peruvian police believe the Quispe Rodríguez family is responsible for the bulk of the counterfeiting industry.
Many Peruvians believed that with the arrest of Joel Quispe Rodríguez, who was arrested last year, the illegal industry would falter. However, Police suspect his brother, Raul Quispe Rodríguez, has taken over the operation of the fake money.
After an investigation that lasted several months, police said they arrested two more members of the family. They also seized nearly US$7m worth in counterfeit bills including Euros and Peruvian soles.
On the 2nd August, police seized US$2.3m that they believe was also produced by the Quispe Rodríguez family and headed for the US in tourist souvenirs.
César Cortijo, director of the Peruvian police criminal investigation, said most of the money is being exported.
“We found notebooks with drawings, to make [the bills] look like souvenirs. They had a compartment to hide dollars wrapped in carbon paper to make them invisible to x-rays,” said Cortijo to BBC Mundo.
Peru’s surging production of good quality fake bills has attracted international organised crime, according to a police officer who spoke to the newspaper, Peru21. Peruvian police arrested a Mexican man at Lima’s international airport who carried US$520,000 in false bills. They believe he is connected to the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel.
Peru’s government has vowed to strike “heavy blows” against money launderers working in the country, after admitting it had failed make an impact so far.
