Almost 66 million euros in banknotes and fake coins were detected in Europe. The operation for which the Romanian police were congratulated
False euro banknote (left), shown at a conference on the number of false banknotes and coins confiscated in the Czech Republic. Photo: říhová Michaela / čtk / Profimedia
Large European investigations, carried out between October 2024 and March 2025 in 18 countries, allowed the identification of some networks that falsified money, most of them operating from Asia, South America and the Middle East, and the Romanian police were congratulated for an operation that allowed the recovery of 600,000 false dollars in a single RAID, a single-RAID, a single-RAID AGROPUS AGROPL.
Europol has supported a common law enforcement operation that disturbed the distribution of fake money through postal services. The total value of these counterfeit banknotes, found in 297 separate packages, is estimated at 66 million euros.
Europol announced on Wednesday in a press release the confiscation of almost one million banknotes and fake coins in euros, dollars and pounds, spread throughout Europe, reports News.ro.
The operation was led by the authorities in 18 countries. Few details were disclosed on the confiscation site, but the Romanian police were congratulated for an operation that allowed the recovery of 600,000 false dollars in a single raid.
“The vast majority of confiscated objects were modified banknotes, often called” cinema tickets “,” Europol says in its statement. However, this mention is often ignored, which allows criminals to use them as a real currency.
Most networks operate from outside the EU
The success of the operation was determined by the exceptional collaboration between the authorities of the 18 countries, which helped investigators better understand the criminal methods and traffic routes. Due to this common effort, the operation has triggered 102 new investigations regarding criminal networks involved in the falsification of currency, says Europol.
The European Anti -Fraud Office (OLAF) also supported the investigation by providing technical infrastructure during the operational phase.
The investigation, led by Austria, Portugal and Spain, carried out between October 2024 and March 2025 and revealed several new criminal networks involved in the falsification of currency. Most of these networks operate from outside the EU, mainly from Asia, but also from America and the Middle East.
This operation marked the second phase of a previous action in which Europol was involved. The closer and better cooperation between customs and police forces allowed the authorities to achieve much better results. “A remarkable success came from Romania, where a single coordinated action of the national authorities led to the confiscation of US $ 600,000 in false currency,” the Europol statement said, which does not specify when this operation took place.
