CEBU CITY — A man allegedly involved in making fake money bills was arrested in an entrapment operation on Tuesday, October 19, in Barangay San Nicolas here.
Operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-Mandaue Field Unit arrested Joseph Salas with counterfeit Philippine currencies equivalent to ₱24,000.
Personnel of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was on hand during the arrest.
Police Lt. Col. Hector Amancia, deputy chief of CIDG-Central Visayas, said it took four months of monitoring before Salas was cornered.
Based on the surveillance, the suspect would sell 10 fake ₱1,000 bills for ₱1, 000.
Salas denied selling fake money bills although he admitted that a friend had hired him to manufacture fake money bills.
Salas said he and his friend already had three transactions.
In the last transaction, he was asked to manufacture 30 pieces of fake ₱1, 000-bill and was paid ₱500.
Amancia said the suspect would use printers that are available in the market in making fake money bills.
"The printers being used are the ones that are commercially available but they have the skills to enhance the appearance of the fake bills to make it appear that they are really legal tender," Amancia said.
Amancia said the CIDG 7 is conducting follow-up investigations to possibly identify the suspect's cohorts.
Amancia advised the public against the proliferation of fake money especially with the upcoming elections.
The police official assured that the CIDG 7 will closely monitor individuals suspected to be involved in making fake money bills to prevent them from victimizing more people.
"There had been instances that fake money bills circulated during election seasons and that's something that we will try to prevent," Amancia said.