A 29-year-old male will face the Court after a counterfeit currency and cannabis grow operation were uncovered in South Auckland.
The arrest came during the execution of a Police search warrant at an address in Pukekohe on 29 November, which was part of an ongoing investigation into the production and use of forged currency.
Sergeant Tod Kirker, from the Counties Manukau Tactical Crime Unit, says his team were investigating a number of recent presentations of fake bank notes in the local community.
“As a result of the search warrant, our team found that counterfeit bank notes were being manufactured at the address, and we also found a large sum of forged banknotes in the final stages of being ready for distribution and use in the community.
“The sum of counterfeit notes would add up to tens of thousands. We also located a firearm, ammunition, and cannabis plants.”
HOW DO YOU SPOT A FAKE?
“On close inspection, anyone should be able to recognise that these supposed banknotes are fakes,” Sergeant Kirker says.
“One indicator we have observed with the counterfeit currency seized, has been that the notes hold their folded state if scrunched or folded gently, where legitimate banknotes generally don’t do that.”
The 29-year-old male is due to appear in the Pukekohe District Court on 20 December charged with cultivating cannabis and presenting a forged document.
