http://www.smh.com.au/world/counterfeiters-shift-to-peru-20090914-fnxp.html
Counterfeiters shift to Peru JOSH MEYE IN WASHINGTON September 15, 2009 A FLOOD of high-quality counterfeit US money from Peru is perplexing federal authorities, who say the shadowy networks that are responsible are also engaging in other criminal activity that poses a threat to US security. Over the past year authorities and banks have recovered $US7.8 million ($9.1 million) in fake US notes across the US that they believe were manufactured in Peru, according to Secret Service statistics. Another $US446,280 in fake US cash from Peru was seized before it was spent in the US during that same period, and more than $18.2 million was seized during raids in Peru, the Secret Service said. ''And that's just a fraction of the notes that we can ally to Peru'' worldwide, said John Large, the assistant special agent in charge of the Secret Service's criminal division at its headquarters in Washington. ''It's a form of economic terrorism.'' Besides costing US citizens and businesses millions in losses, Mr Large said, the international counterfeiting rings undermine confidence in US currency. That is especially the case in countries in South America and elsewhere that have ''dollarised'' economies, in which US bills are accepted as an official form of currency. The Secret Service launched a special task force in February in partnership with the Peruvian National Police, and stepped up training for Peruvian officials and bankers in how to go after counterfeiters. The State Department issued a warning to travellers last month, saying that ''counterfeit US currency is a growing and serious problem in Peru.'' A similar crackdown in Colombia in recent years helped authorities sharply reduce the rampant counterfeiting of US currency. As much as 70 per cent of the counterfeit US currency passed annually in the US had been from Colombia, but law enforcement initiatives have reduced that source to about 5 per cent, Secret Service figures show. Counterfeiters in Colombia still print millions in fake US dollars. Those successes, however, resulted in at least some of the Colombian counterfeiters moving over to Peru, which does not have as robust an anti-fraud force and system of anti-counterfeiting laws. The Secret Service noticed a trickle of fake bills coming out of Peru in 2003. Two years ago agents began reporting a steady stream of fake currency in Miami, some of it smuggled in by human ''mules''. US and Peruvian officials say some of the Peruvian counterfeiters are also engaged in drug trafficking and making fake passports, visas and other documents. Los Angeles Times
