Acting on intelligence, operatives of the Nigeria Police busted and arrested syndicates incolved in counterfeiting and faking dollar and naira currency.
The sum of $56,300 and N265,000 counterfeit notes were found and recovered from them immediately.
Twelve suspects of two syndicates were arrested on the spot when the Police swooped on them on Thursday in Gombe, North East Nigeria, revealing that they have been printing fake local and foreign currencies.
The Gombe State Police Command’s Spokesperson, ASP Mahid Abubakar, said the suspects were arrested in the Bajoga, Funakaye and Dukku Local Government Areas of the state, noting that one group members were arrested with 500 fake pieces of 100 dollars and N265,000.
They were busted after one Buba Muhammadu tried to buy drugs from one Muhammad Ismail in Sangaru quarters in Bajoga with a counterfeit N1,000 note.
He said Muhammadu was arrested and other members of the gang were subsequently arrested.
The police spokesman identified the first set of suspects as “Buba Muhammadu, 45 years, male; Jungudo Muhammadu, 53 years, male; Adamu Yusuf Mallum, 30 years; Abdulhamid Abdullahi, male, 60 years; Salihu Abdulhamid, 50 years, male; Abubakar Abdullahi, 35 years, male”.
The police spokesperson said the second set of suspects was arrested in Malala village in the Dukku Local Government Area of the state.
They were arrested with 63 pieces of counterfeit 100 US dollar notes.
Abubakar identified the second set of suspects as “Haruna Adamu, aged 60 years, male of Tanji Village Darazo LGA, Bauchi State; Garba Ibrahim, aged 25 years, male of Hashidu, Dukku LGA, Gombe State; Samaila Musa, aged 30 years, male of Gombe Abba, Dukku LGA; Sa’adu Muhammed, aged 23 years, male of No.10 Badarawa Quarters, Kaduna State; Yusuf Abdullahi, aged 30 years, male of Gombe Abba, Dukku LGA; Muhammadu Umaru, aged 26 years, male of Gombe Abba Dukku LGA”.
He said that all the suspects had confessed to the crime and would subsequently be charged.
