Working with Hong Kong and Macao officers, Guangdong police cracked a big counterfeit banknote operation.

A total of 12 suspects were detained for further investigation, said Zhang Binzhao, deputy director of the Economic Criminal Investigation Department of the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Security, yesterday.

Three of the suspects are from Hong Kong, three are from Macao and the other six are mainland residents, Zhang said.

During a press conference in Guangzhou, Zhang said police smashed a fake banknote production location in Guangzhou's Haizhu District late last month.

A total of 620 fake HK$100 (US$12.9) banknotes, eight Portuguese notes in denominations of 500 Escudos each, and many semi-finished products were seized.

Printing models, computers, fax machines, printers, scanners, CD-ROMs and other equipment were also confiscated.

Guangdong police set up a special task force in April after learning from Hong Kong and Macao officials that fake banknotes had been surfacing since the beginning of the year. Both Hong Kong and Macao police suspected that the fake banknotes were being printed in Guangdong Province, and sought to work with Guangdong police, Zhang said.

After a two-month investigation, an operation codenamed "Laser" was carried out in the provincial capital.

The investigation revealed the gang had been printing fake banknotes since the beginning of the year in Guangzhou and smuggling them to both Hong Kong and Macao.

Zhang said the sting netted one of the biggest counterfeiting operations the force has ever found.

Zhang said the crackdown has dealt a heavy blow to the region's active banknote counterfeiters and may even deter future crimes.

The operation also highlights the effectiveness of joint efforts along the prosperous southern Chinese region, Zhang said.

(China Daily July 14, 2004)