Police in East Timor have seized four million dollars in counterfeit money from a warehouse belonging to a Chinese-owned shop in Dili and arrested four foreign nationals, authorities announced.
According to the director of the Criminal Investigation Service of the National Police, Superintendent João Belo dos Reis, the operation followed intelligence reports about the presence of fake money at the location.
“An intervention was carried out, during which we collected all evidence related to the crime and detected several boxes containing counterfeit money,” he said during a press conference at the police headquarters.
The superintendent stated that the preliminary estimate of the seized counterfeit money is around four million dollars, with further details expected by the end of the week.
Read more: East Timor: over 20 state projects face corruption risks, report finds
He added that the criminal investigation police will work with customs authorities to identify import records linked to the seizure, including when the money entered the country, who facilitated it, and who was involved in its transportation.
Authorities will also collaborate with the Central Bank of East Timor to determine the exact type of forgery, as well as with international partners to trace the origin of the money and how it entered the country.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão also visited the police headquarters for a meeting with the police leadership but did not speak to journalists.
In a statement, the prime minister’s office said that Xanana Gusmão urged authorities to deepen the investigation.
